US assures Korean detainees will have no reentry issues: South Korea's FM Cho

Seoul, Sep 11 (IANS) South Korea secured assurances from the United States that its nationals held in Georgia will face no reentry issues on future US visits, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said, as a chartered plane is set to bring them back home a week after their arrests in a US immigration sweep.

Speaking to reporters after his talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Cho said the two sides reaffirmed that the detainees will not be physically restrained while on their way to the Atlanta airport to board a chartered flight home.

"We have secured assurances that they will face no problems reentering the United States in the future to work," Cho said in a press availability.

"We once again agreed to ensure that our citizens in detention will be able to return home tomorrow on a chartered flight and that no restraints, such as handcuffs, will be used during the process," he said.

Cho flew to Washington earlier this week to address the mass detention of more than 300 South Koreans who were arrested by US immigration authorities last Thursday at an electric car battery plant site in Georgia, reports Yonhap news agency.

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 on Wednesday afternoon, but the plan was delayed over "unspecified US 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 US regulations.

Regarding the delayed departure, Rubio told Cho during the talks that it was largely due to the fact that President Donald Trump told his officials to "encourage" the Koreans to stay in the country to continue their work, a foreign ministry official said.

"That led to a halt in the departure process, in order 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 US to continue working and help train American personnel," he said.

"It didn't have anything to do with handcuffing, although that issue had not been resolved at the time," the official added.

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 US later.

Trump's remarks suggest that there will be no disadvantages for the Korean nationals when reentering the US, 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 US.

The official said that Trump ordered the transportation of the detainees to the airport to take place without handcuffing them, as Seoul has strongly requested, adding that it reflects 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 travelling to the airport from the detention facilities around 2 a.m.

Cho also said that he discussed with Rubio forming 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 US.

"More importantly, we discussed establishing a visa category that befits our investments in the long term and ensures there will be no inconveniences for our businesses visiting and working in the U.S.," he said.

"To do that, the State Department and our foreign ministry will establish a working group to create new visas, and we have agreed to continue talks swiftly in that regard," Cho said.

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. Most of the detainees are men, with only 10 women among them.

--IANS

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