Seoul: A senior US State Department official on Sunday expressed regret over the recent mass detention of South Korean workers in America and vowed to prevent similar occurrences.
Christopher Landau, Deputy Secretary of State, visited Seoul for a meeting with South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo, Yonhap news agency reported.
According to Seoul’s Foreign Ministry, Landau conveyed his deep regrets over the detention of hundreds of South Korean workers in an immigration crackdown earlier this month at an electric vehicle battery plant construction site for a joint venture between Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution in Bryan County, Georgia.
A total of 316 South Korean workers returned home on Friday, after being held in a detention centre for a week.
Landau also told Park that the two allies should try to use the incident as an opportunity to further strengthen their bilateral ties and improve relevant systems where necessary, according to the Ministry.
Landau also said that US President Donald Trump has a keen interest in the matter and ensured that those who have returned home will not face any disadvantages when reentering the US.
The State Department official said that Washington would try to ensure there would be no further incidents of a similar nature in the future.
Landau proposed working-level talks on issuing proper visas for South Korean workers in the US, citing a need to provide institutional support for South Korean corporations’ investments that contribute to the American economy and manufacturing.
In response, Park touched upon inconveniences that South Korean workers faced while in detention and said the general public in South Korea, in addition to the workers themselves, felt deeply shocked by the crackdown.
According to the Ministry, Park also strongly urged the US to take practical steps and implement systematic improvements to ease South Korean people’s concerns.
Most of the detained Korean workers had entered the US on non-immigrant short-term business visas — either B-1 visas or Electronic System for Travel Authorisation permits — which are meant for brief business visits rather than employment.
South Korean companies view such visa challenges as a major obstacle to their US investments — a concern that contrasts sharply with South Korea’s status as the largest foreign investor in the US in 2023, with $21.5 billion invested.
Seoul has also pledged $350 billion in additional investment under a new trade framework. Yet only about 2,000 South Koreans with specialty occupations receive H-1B visas annually, out of nearly 85,000 issued.
(IANS)
