INCHEON, South Korea (Reuters) – A chartered plane carrying some 300 South Koreans, who were detained in a large-scale U.S. immigration raid at a battery project site, landed at Incheon airport on Friday, TV footage showed.
Their return capped a week of intense negotiations by Seoul to win their release and bring them home after they were taken into custody in handcuffs and shackles – shocking many in South Korea, a key U.S. ally.
South Korean businesses have long struggled with getting proper visas for specialist workers needed at project sites for months at a time, which has led to some workers relying on grey areas in U.S. visa enforcement.
The two countries are looking at establishing a working group to consider a new type of visa for Koreans, according to South Korea’s foreign minister who visited Washington this week.
The plane also carried 10 workers from China, three from Japan and an Indonesian national.
(Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Ed Davies and Edwina Gibbs)
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