The U.S. State Department said Wednesday that South Koreans have a wider scope of exemptions from visa interviews compared to citizens of other countries.

Tony Edson, senior adviser at the department's consular affairs bureau, stated that Seoul is an unusual case, as it processes the highest number of nonimmigrant visas of any U.S. post overseas.

Edson was referring to the U.S. exemption of visa interview requirements for South Koreans aged 16 or younger and senior citizens aged 55 or over.

Recently, the State Department announced visa interview exemptions for each country vis a vis applicant age. In the case of other countries, people aged 16 or younger and 60 or over are exempted from the interviews.