South Korea asks US Congress to support new work visa

SEOUL — South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun has called for the US Congress to support a new visa for Korean businesses, the ministry said on Friday, as hundreds of Korean workers arrested during a massive immigration raid arrived in Seoul.

During his meetings with US senators in Washington, Cho reiterated concerns among South Koreans over the arrests of Korean professionals who participated in investment projects in the US, the ministry said in a statement.

A plane carrying more than 300 workers, released after being detained for days in Georgia, landed in South Korea on Friday.

TV footage showed the charter plane, a Boeing 747-8i from Korean Air, landing in Incheon International Airport, just west of Seoul, on Friday. The footage later showed workers, some wearing masks, passing through an arrival hall, with senior officials clapping hands.

The South Korean Foreign Ministry asked the media to blur the workers' faces in videos and photos at the airport, citing requests from the workers who were concerned about their privacy.

They were among about 475 people detained during the Sept 4 immigration raid at a battery factory under construction on the campus of Hyundai's sprawling auto plant west of Savannah.

The South Korean government earlier pushed to bring them back home on Thursday, but said the plan was shelved due to a reason involving the US side. South Korea's Foreign Ministry later said that US President Donald Trump had halted the departure process to consult with South Korea on whether the Koreans should be allowed to stay and continue their work, helping to train US workers or be sent back to South Korea.

The raid that sent shock waves across South Korea has threatened to destabilize ties at a time when both countries are seeking to finalize a trade deal.

Following the raid, the battery plant is facing a minimum startup delay of two to three months, Hyundai CEO Jose Munoz said on Thursday.

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Thursday that hundreds of South Korean workers arrested during the immigration raid had the wrong visas.

"I called up the Koreans, I said, Oh, give me a break. Get the right visa and if you're having problems getting the right visa, call me," Lutnick said in an interview with Axios.

South Korean companies have complained for years that they have struggled to obtain short-term work visas for specialists needed at their high-tech US plants and have come to rely on a gray area of looser interpretation of visa rules under previous US administrations.