SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean president said Thursday that South Korean companies are likely to hesitate to maintain or invest in the US if the US fails Improve that visa system For Korean workers.
During his 100-day inauguration press conference, Lee called for improvements to the US visa system as he spoke about the September 4th immigration attack in Georgia. 300 Korean workers At a battery factory under construction in a vast car factory in Hyundai, Georgia.
Lee said that the Korean workers will be on a charter plane home on Friday after negotiations with the US.
South Korean and US officials are discussing the possibility of improving the US visa system, Lee said, adding that the current system “cannot “hew much” about Korean companies making direct investments in the US.
US officials said some of the detained workers illegally crossed the US border, while others legally entered the country, but either expired their visas or entered the visa exemption that barred them from working.
However, South Korean experts and officials said Washington has not yet acted on Seoul’s long-standing demand to ensure a visa system to accommodate skilled Korean workers, but is pushing South Korea to expand its industrial investment in the US
Korean companies rely on short-term visitor visas or electronic systems for travel permits to dispatch workers needed to launch manufacturing sites and handle other setup tasks.
Lee said whether the US has established a visa system that allows Korean companies to send skilled workers to industrial sites will have a “significant impact” on future Korean investment in the US.
“These aren’t like long-term workers. If you build a facility or install equipment in a factory, you need technicians, but the US doesn’t have that workforce, but people don’t issue visas to stay and do their jobs,” he said.
