Hyundai case, Seoul: Trump wants the 300 South Koreans to stay to train US workers
The repatriation of hundreds of South Korean workers arrested during a US immigration services raid has been suspended after President Donald Trump asked them to remain in the US
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The repatriation of hundreds of South Korean workers arrested during a raid of immigration services in the United States has been suspended after President Donald Trump asked them to stay in the United States. This was stated by a Seoul Foreign Ministry official in Washington. According to the source, Washington suspended the repatriation because "Trump had asked whether the arrested South Korean workers, all qualified professionals, should remain in the United States to continue working and training American personnel," the official said.
On the delay of repatriation operations of the more than 300 South Koreans arrested last week in Georgia in the anti-illegal immigration raid at a Hyundai Motor-LG battery plant under construction, Yonhap quoted a Seoul official on the tycoon's intervention as the main cause of the postponement, according to a meeting between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and South Korean counterpart Cho Hyun.
Seoul has also obtained assurances from Washington that its citizens detained in Georgia will have no problems returning to the US in the future, Cho said, while a charter plane is ready to leave Atlanta seven days after their arrest.
Speaking to the media after Wednesday's talks with Rubio, Cho said the two sides reiterated that the detainees will not be physically restrained en route to the Atlanta airport. "We agreed once again to ensure that our detained nationals will be able to return home tomorrow on the charter flight and that no restraint measures, such as handcuffs, will be used during the procedures," pointed out the foreign minister, who flew to Washington earlier this week to address the issue of the mass detention of more than 300 South Koreans who were arrested last Thursday by US immigration authorities.
The agreement on the release of South Korean workers
.Seoul and Washington reached an agreement to release the people detained from the Folkston facilities, who were supposed to board a chartered plane for return Wednesday afternoon, but the plan was postponed to the early hours of Thursday, then Friday. Cho also said he had discussed with Rubio the formation of a "working group" to improve visa systems for South Korean companies, including the creation of a new visa category to better support their travel and business in the US. A total of 330 people - 316 Koreans and 14 foreign nationals (including 10 Chinese, three Japanese and one Indonesian) - will board the charter flight, according to a Seoul Foreign Ministry official. There are only 10 women.
