South Korean Minister Flies To US, Asks Workers To Be Allowed To Enter America Again

South Korea wants hundreds of its citizens, who were arrested last week in a massive US immigration raid on a car battery factory and will be repatriated soon, to be allowed back into the United States.

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun will fly to Washington on Monday night and will meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on his visit to resolve the matter.

Cho also said he would request that the US visa system for Korean workers be simplified in the future.

About 300 South Koreans were among the 475 arrested on Thursday at project sites worth $4.3 billion involving Hyundai Motor and LG Energy Solution to produce electric car batteries.

Law enforcement operations in one of the largest locations in the history of this Department of Homeland Security (DHS) investigation are the largest.

The raid shocked South Korea, a major US ally who had attempted to finalize an agreed US trade deal by the end of July.

The raid comes just 10 days after South Korea's new president, Lee Jae Myung, met US President Donald Trump in Washington and both pledged to strengthen business ties.

In addition to potentially destabilizing bilateral relations, this development also highlights how many foreign companies investing in the US are struggling to find quality American workers.

Seoul said on Sunday discussions to regulate the release of workers, mostly employed by subcontractors, had been largely completed.

Plans are being drafted to fly them home on chartered planes this week, with what a South Korean Foreign Ministry official called a "voluntary departure".

"From the start, we negotiated with the premise that there should be no personal loss (for detained workers)," Cho said at a parliamentary session on Monday, September 8.

Details about how workers may have violated immigration rules have not been released by authorities or companies, but South Korean lawmakers say some may have exceeded 90-day visa-free program limits or temporary B-1 business visas.

South Korean Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said on Monday he heard several experts had come from South Korea to help test the plant which was scheduled to start production in October.

"You need a visa to do a trial, but it's very difficult to get an official visa. Time is running out, and I think experts have gone to the United States," he said.