South Korea and the United States will discuss establishing a new visa category for Koreans, Seoul’s Foreign Minister was quoted as saying, after a U.S. immigration raid noticed 475 workers rounded up at a Hyundai Motor website.
Foreign Minister Cho Hyun additionally stated after assembly U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday (September 10, 2025) that he had assurances that the South Koreans who’re due to be launched is not going to face disadvantages if they fight to re-enter the United States, the Yonhap News Agency reported.
Mr. Cho had flown to Washington to resolve what has grow to be a diplomatic quagmire after about 300 South Koreans working on the website of an electrical car battery plant in Georgia had been detained by U.S. immigration authorities final week.
A chartered airplane carrying the workers will depart the United States on Thursday (September 11, 2025) and the group is not going to be handcuffed when they’re transferred from the detention centre to the airport, Mr. Cho was additionally quoted as saying by Yonhap.
U.S. immigration authorities routinely handcuff and shackle immigrants when they’re placed on deportation flights.
There was no quick remark from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security or the State Department.
Mr. Cho instructed Mr., Rubio that Koreans had been “hurt and shocked” by the arrest of workers “who came to the U.S. to transfer technology and know-how to contribute to the Trump administration’s efforts to revive the U.S. manufacturing industry,” South Korea’s international ministry stated earlier.
Korean companies have complained about strict U.S. limits on visas for expert international workers, which they are saying make it troublesome for them to oversee development of factories or to practice native workers.
