Lee Jong-suk flies back home after short detention in Jakarta over work visa
SEOUL: Actor Lee Jong-suk has returned home to South Korea after being detained in Jakarta for about two days.
He had flown into Jakarta on Nov 3 as a part of his fan meetup tour, which included visits to Japan in August, and Taiwan and Thailand in September.
He was scheduled to board a plane for South Korea the next day, but Lee and his team weren’t granted departure.
His dentention was made public through his Instagram post on Monday, which read, “All of (the) staff members and I are currently tied up in Jakarta. We’ve been detained since yesterday.”
The post has since been deleted.
Lee’s agency A-man Project offered an update on the situation through an official statement issued early on Tuesday morning.
“Lee Jong- suk’s scheduled return to South Korea has been delayed due to the inept business handling by the management and (the local branch of Korean event organiser) Yes 24. Fortunately, the actor is currently aboard the plane home with the help of the Indonesian Embassy,” read the statement.
Yes 24 has been accused of defaulting on tax payment and failure to acquire an employment visa.
It also said the local contractor failed to provide a consistent explanation for the situation.
“We were first informed Yes 24 was detained by the local tax authorities for unpaid taxes, a process during which the passports of the actor and staff were confiscated,” it said.
“However, it was reported in local news hours later that Yes 24 did not apply for a short-term employment visa.”