South Korea has suggested that problems with United States visas for Korean workers must be resolved before a mooted $350bn investment package can move forward.
Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said on Friday that Seoul would work with Washington to address the concerns. Following a high-profile raid by US authorities on a plant in the state of Georgia, South Korea has increased efforts to persuade Washington to resolve disputes over visas and tariffs, illustrating the clash of President Donald Trump’s hardline immigration policies with his calls for foreign investment.
“This is not a prerequisite for Korean investment in the US, but it is a very important issue in practice,” Cho told reporters. “We’ll do our utmost to ensure that the visa problem is resolved in some way before substantial investments begin.”
Earlier this month, more than 300 employees at a battery plant under construction in Georgia were detained in an immigration sweep, before being released and sent home.
The incident prompted calls from companies for a new visa category to make it easier for skilled Korean workers to help set up new factories and train US workers.
‘Bewildering’
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called the raid “bewildering” and warned it could deter future investment. He said Seoul was pressing Washington “to ensure that visa issuance for investment-related purposes operates normally”.
Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo, who returned from talks in Washington this week, said he raised the issue of visa restrictions affecting Korean workers and other obstacles that threaten investment plans.
After the US announced earlier this year that it planned a tariff of 25 percent on South Korean imports, Seoul entered talks and in late July secured an informal agreement to drop the tariffs to 15 percent.
However, the two countries have since been locked in negotiations to resolve outstanding issues and cement that agreement within a wider bilateral trade deal.
Trump said in July that the agreement included a South Korean package worth $350bn for investments “owned and controlled” by the US.
South Korea described the investments as a “fund” to support South Korean companies’ entry into the US, which would be directed at industries where South Korea possesses “strengths”, such as shipbuilding, semiconductors, secondary batteries, biotechnology and energy.
For Seoul, securing fairer terms has become a test of its ability to protect national interests while managing a vital economic relationship with Washington.
Meanwhile, the visa row highlights the contradiction between Trump’s bid to attract foreign capital and the aggressive immigration crackdown.
Images of workers in handcuffs and chains during the arrests caused deep outrage in South Korea, in what many see as a betrayal of an ally.
Protestors in South Korea earlier this month mocked Trump and accused Washington of luring investment only to criminalise workers. One man’s sign read: “You told us to invest, only to arrest us! Is this how you treat an ally?”
In a poll conducted following the raids, at least 60 percent of South Koreans disapproved of the arrests.
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