Social media users busy deleting traces related to Middle East



By Nam Hyun-woo



Kim Ki-beom, a graduate student in Seoul in his late 20s, must get a U.S. visa for his Ph.D. studies in the United States. He has many things to worry about from finalizing his work in Korea to preparing for a new life on the opposite side of the Pacific.



With so much to do every day, he "wasted" half a day navigating through his social media sites -- not for fun -- but out of concern that he may not be able to get the visa under toughened rules.



Kim's woes are caused by the recent moves by the Trump administration, which approved plans to ask US visa applicants for details of their social media history.



"One of my friends talked about the new rule. And a visa agency also said that I should make sure that everything is right. Hence, I went through my social media track record for the past few years," Kim said.



"I found some photos in Arabic restaurants, which I instantly erased. I also checked all the articles I recommended for recent years. It was a time-consuming job."



There are disputes on whether and how the U.S. will enforce its new visa rules. Some say the country introduced a new set of regulations while others counter that the country is just strengthening its existing procedures.



The general understanding is that US consular officials can now ask for social media usernames going back five years through a new questionnaire.



Reports say that the U.S. State Department expects that about 0.5 percent of visa applicants, which would be around 65,000 a year, will have to complete the new questionnaire under the tougher visa scrutiny policy.



But one thing seems to be sure. After the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump early this year, a rising number of Koreans have been worried that their visa applications might be rejected for unprecedented reason.



In particular, they seem to worry about things regarding the Middle East. Some reportedly erased all pictures of their tours to the Middle East ahead of applying for a visa. This seems to have something to do with the Trump administration's controversial executive orders on visa bans for some Middle Eastern countries.



An official at a Seoul-based visa agency concurred.



"It is natural for visa applicants to worry about it. If his U.S. visa is rejected, the applicant would not be able enter the country for years. In this climate, who would want to take the risk of rejection?"



He added that more Koreans appear to have gotten rejected during the visa questioning process after Trump took office.



The U.S. embassy in Seoul was not available for comment.



