South Korea, US to discuss new visa category as detained workers set to head home, Yonhap says

Detainees made to stand against a bus before being handcuffed, during the raid by federal agents at the Hyundai plant in Georgia. (Courtesy: Reuters photo)

South Korea and the United States will discuss establishing a new visa category for Koreans, Seoul's foreign minister was quoted as saying, after a US immigration raid saw 475 workers rounded up at a Hyundai Motor site.

Foreign Minister Cho Hyun also said after meeting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday that he had assurances that the South Koreans who are due to be released will not face disadvantages if they try to re-enter the United States, the Yonhap News Agency reported.

Cho had flown to Washington to resolve what has become a diplomatic quagmire after about 300 South Koreans working at the site of an electric vehicle battery plant in Georgia were detained by US immigration authorities last week.

A chartered plane carrying the workers will depart the United States on Thursday and the group will not be handcuffed when they are transferred from the detention centre to the airport, Cho was also quoted as saying by Yonhap.

US immigration authorities routinely handcuff and shackle immigrants when they are put on deportation flights.

There was no immediate comment from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security or the State Department.

Cho told Rubio that Koreans were "hurt and shocked" by the arrest of workers "who came to the U.S. to transfer technology and know-how to contribute to the Trump administration's efforts to revive the US manufacturing industry," South Korea's foreign ministry said earlier.

Korean businesses have complained about strict US limits on visas for skilled foreign workers, which they say make it difficult for them to oversee construction of factories or to train local workers.