US immigration raid exposes South Korea business visa woes

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korean business insiders told AFP Tuesday that many firms had been bending visa rules to send workers to the United States, saying this would change after a shock immigration raid.

Hundreds of South Koreans were arrested last week at a Hyundai-LG battery plant being built in the southern state of Georgia, with images of workers chained and handcuffed alarming investors, as Seoul issued a strong rebuke.

Seoul has negotiated the release of its nationals, who are expected to be flown home this week, with U.S. President Donald Trump urging foreign investors to comply with visa rules in the future.

But South Koreans told AFP this would be hard — and that many companies had been bending the rules.

Using B-1 visas or authorization through the visa waiver program, which allow entry for business but not employment, “was a normal practice,” a source from the battery industry told AFP on Tuesday.

“But this may have to change from now on,” the source added, speaking on condition of anonymity as they described a “deeply rooted” visa problem.

South Korea is a major investor in the United States and many firms need to bring in their own workers in the early stages, industry sources told AFP.

A visa is required for manual work in the United States, but approvals have become more difficult under Trump and firms have turned to workarounds.

They include Washington’s visa waiver program, which requires travelers to gain approval online through the system known as ESTA, and which covers citizens from dozens of countries.

‘Unfair disruptions’

Last week’s raid has left business leaders with “a sense of betrayal and anxiety,” a senior executive from the semiconductors industry told AFP.

“Most of the companies follow similar practices so this could happen to any of them,” he said on condition of anonymity.

“South Korean companies have long been worried that this would happen and it is still quite a shock,” he said.

Both LG Energy Solution and Hyundai Motors declined to comment, and AFP does not have details of which visas those detained were holding.

LG Energy Solution has said 47 of its employees were arrested, with another 250 mostly South Korean workers employed by a subcontractor also detained.

The issues are hard to fix because “institutional reform is not easy,” said Kim Yong-bum, presidential chief of staff for policy. “If these issues are not resolved, investment cannot possibly proceed properly. The United States understands this as well.”

South Korea is pushing for the “Partner with Korea Act” in Washington, which would create a quota of 15,000 visas for skilled professionals.

“Unfortunately the number of sponsoring lawmakers has decreased compared with when the bill was first introduced a decade ago,” Kim said, adding it reflected growing anti-immigration sentiment.

President Lee Jae Myung said Tuesday the government must ensure that “no such unfair disruptions” to South Korean businesses occur again.

“Our government will swiftly pursue reasonable institutional improvements through close consultations with the United States to prevent a recurrence of similar cases,” said Lee.

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By HIEUN SHIN Agence France-Presse