South Korea said Monday that he wants hundreds of his citizens, who were arrested last week during a large US immigration raid. UU. In a car battery project and will take home soon, so that he can re -enter the United States.
Foreign Minister Cho Hyun will fly to Washington on Monday night and will meet with the United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, during his trip to solve the problem. Cho also said that he would ask that the US visa system. Uu. For Korean workers to simplify in the future.
Around 300 South Koreans were between 475 arrested Thursday at the site of a $ 4.3 billion project per Hyundai Motor and LG Energy Solution to build batteries for electric cars. It was the application of a single larger site in the history of the investigation operations of the Department of National Security.
The raid sent shock waves through South Korea, an important ally of the United States, who has been trying to finish a commercial agreement of the United States agreed at the end of July. He arrived only 10 days after the new president of South Korea, Lee Jae Myung, met with US President Donald Trump in Washington and the two promised closest commercial ties.
In addition to getting rid of bilateral ties, development has thrown new light on how many foreign companies invest in the United States have struggled to find qualified American workers.
Seoul said Sunday that discussions to organize the liberation of workers, who were mostly employed by subcontractors, were largely completed. They are working on a plan to fly home on a chaired plane this week under what an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Korea said, a “voluntary departure” would be called.
“From the beginning, we negotiate with the premise that there should be no personal disadvantage (for detained workers),” Cho told a parliamentary audience on Monday.
The authorities or companies have not published details on how workers may have violated immigration rules, but the companies of the South Korean companies said Monday that some may have exceeded the limits of a 90-day visa exemption program or a temporary business visa B-1.
The Minister of Finance of South Korea, Koo Yun-Cheol, said Monday that he had heard that some experts had traveled from South Korea to help with a factory test, which production should begin in October.
“You must get a visa to do a test, but it is very difficult to get an official visa. Time was exhausted, and I think the experts went to the United States,” he said.
South Korea’s consternation
Seoul has expressed its unhappiness about arrests and the public release of images that show the operation that involved armored vehicles and the chain of the workers.
Trump, who has increased deportations throughout the country when his administration takes energetic measures against illegal immigrants, he said last week that he had not been aware of the raid. He called “illegal foreigners.”
On Sunday, he asked foreign companies to invest in the United States to “respect the immigration laws of our nation,” but it sounded more conciliatory.
“Your investments are welcome, and we recommend that you legally bring your very intelligent people, with great technical talent, to build world -class products, and we will do it quickly and legally to do so,” he said in Truth Social.
Hyundai Motor is one of the largest foreign investors in the United States and is among South Korean companies that participate in a promise of $ 150 billion in foreign direct investment in the US. UU., Which enters a fund of $ 350 billion that the South Korean government has promised separately.
A car manufacturer spokesman said that a staff had been asked to suspend non -essential trips to the United States.
LGES has also suspended most personnel business trips to the United States and will remind employees based in South Korea now in the country.
The battery manufacturer said last week that he is cooperating with the US authorities and that he had stopped construction work at the factory.
A Hyundai Motor spokesman said that last week, none of the people detained was used directly by the car manufacturer and that the production of electric vehicles on the expanding site was not affected.
Companies rejected more comments on Monday.
