Washington: South Korea secured assurances from the United States that its nationals held in Georgia will face no reentry issues on future U.S. visits, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun stated, as a chartered plane is set to bring them back home a week after their arrests in a U.S. immigration sweep. Speaking to reporters after his talks with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Cho said the two sides reaffirmed the detainees will not be physically restrained while on their way to the Atlanta airport to board a chartered flight home.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Cho flew to Washington earlier this week to address the mass detention of more than 300 South Koreans who were arrested by U.S. immigration authorities at an electric car battery plant site in Georgia. Seoul and Washington reached an agreement to release the detained people from the facilities in Folkston, and they were to board a chartered plane home, but the plan was delayed over "unspecified U.S. circumstances."
Possible disagreements over how to transport the detainees to the airport had been raised as a likely reason for the delay, such as handcuffing them on the bus during travel under U.S. regulations. Regarding the delayed departure, Rubio told Cho during the talks that it was largely due to President Donald Trump encouraging the Koreans to stay in the country to continue their work, a foreign ministry official said.
The official mentioned that this led to a halt in the departure process to first hear Korea's position on whether the detained nationals, all of whom are skilled workers, want to return home or stay in the U.S. to continue working and help train American personnel. It was clarified that the delay was not related to the issue of handcuffing, although that issue had not been resolved at the time.
Cho explained to Rubio that the detainees are "extremely shocked and exhausted," and it would be better for them to return home first and come back to the U.S. later. Trump's remarks suggest there will be no disadvantages for the Korean nationals when reentering the U.S., and South Korea understands this as confirmation that no records of illegal stay will be kept and that their return will be treated as a voluntary departure, the official said.
The official also noted that the government believes the detainees did not carry out work beyond the scope of their visas and did not admit to overstaying in the U.S. Trump ordered the transportation of the detainees to the airport to take place without handcuffing them, as Seoul has strongly requested, reflecting the "deep bond" between Trump and President Lee Jae Myung.
The plane is now set to leave Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Thursday at noon. The workers are expected to start traveling to the airport from the detention facilities around 2 a.m. Cho also mentioned discussing with Rubio the formation of a "working group" to improve the visa systems for South Korean businesses, including creating a new visa category to better support their trips and operations in the U.S.
Cho emphasized the importance of establishing a visa category that aligns with their investments in the long term and ensures there will be no inconveniences for businesses visiting and working in the U.S. A total of 330 people -- 316 Koreans and 14 foreign nationals -- will board the chartered flight, according to a ministry official. One South Korean has chosen to remain. The foreign nationals include 10 Chinese, three Japanese, and one Indonesian, with most of the detainees being men, and only 10 women among them.