Seoul, Washington likely to seek visa rule changes for skilled Korean workers

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, Sunday (local time). Reuters-Yonhap

Officials in Seoul and Washington have signaled a possible review of visa policies for foreign technical staff working in the U.S. after an immigration raid last week at a battery plant construction site in Georgia operated by Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday (local time) that the United States maintains a “great” relationship with Korea and suggested his administration could allow some foreign manufacturing experts to help train American workers.

Addressing the issue, Trump told reporters, “When they’re building batteries … if you don’t have people in this country right now that know about batteries, maybe we should help them along and let some people come in and train our people to do complex things, whether it’s battery manufacturing, computer manufacturing or building ships.” He added, “Your investments are welcome, and we encourage you to legally bring your very smart people.”

He then said that he would look at the “whole situation” in an apparent reference to visa-related issues that have hampered Korean businesses’ efforts to bring their staff to the U.S.

Later, Trump reiterated in a social media post that while Korean investments are welcome, companies must comply with U.S. immigration laws. He added that his administration “will make it quickly and legally possible” for Korean firms to bring skilled personnel into the country.

This came after U.S. immigration officials detained 475 people, around 300 of whom are Korean citizens, in the raid at the HL-GA Battery Company facility under construction in Ellabell, Georgia, which has stoked fears among companies and prompted calls for government action. Most were arrested for working on visitor or short-term business visas that do not permit hands-on technical labor.

The arrests heightened diplomatic tensions just weeks after Korea announced major new investments in American manufacturing. The raid was part of a broader U.S. crackdown on unauthorized workers, a central component of the Trump administration’s anti-immigration policy.

An immigration raid is conducted at the Hyundai-LG vehicle assembly plant in Ellabell, Ga., Thursday (local time), in this still image from a video made available by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement via the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service. EPA-Yonhap

In Seoul, the trade ministry convened an emergency meeting on Monday with major companies such as Hyundai, LG, SK, Samsung and others investing in U.S. projects.

The meeting, presided over by Deputy Trade Minister Park Jong-won, focused on strategies for suggesting improvements to visa systems for Korean workers on business trips or assignments related to investments and construction projects in the U.S. This came a day after presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik said that Seoul would work with Washington to improve the visa system.

At a separate meeting between lawmakers of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and officials of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), DPK Chairman Rep. Jung Chung-rae also addressed the raid issue and promised support.

“I understand that many businesspeople here must have been particularly shocked by these events. Our party will work closely and actively with the government to resolve visa issues and ensure such incidents do not happen again,” he said.

Chey Tae-won, chairman of the KCCI, expressed gratitude. “I hope that your party will pay attention to resolving structural issues such as establishing preventive measures and securing sufficient visa quotas, in order to protect the safety of our citizens staying in the U.S. and to ensure the smooth business operations of our companies there,” he said.

In principle, anyone wanting to work in the U.S. needs to obtain a work visa, such as the H-1B for specialized work or H-2B for nonagricultural temporary work. But these visas are limited in number and can take several months to secure. Due to these restrictions, many Korean companies investing there ― especially those that need to send skilled workers on short notice ― have often relied on alternative options such as the ESTA (a short-term travel permit under the Visa Waiver Program) or the B-1 short-term business visa, neither of which allows “work that generates U.S. source income.”

Over the past decade, Korean businesses and government officials have advocated for a new “E-4” professional work visa to bring highly skilled Korean workers to the United States. So far, however, such proposals have not cleared Congress.

At Monday's emergency session of the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said the government had reached a broad agreement with Washington to ensure that Korean workers soon to be released from U.S. detention facilities would not face additional restrictions when entering the U.S. in the future.

"We are waiting for final confirmation (from the U.S.)," said Cho, adding that negotiations were proceeding in a way that entry restrictions would not be imposed on those workers.