US Allows South Koreans Temporary Work Visas After Georgia Raid

The United States has agreed to allow South Korean workers to enter the country on short-term B-1 business visas or through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) visa waiver program to help build and service industrial production facilities, following a major immigration raid at a Hyundai battery plant in Georgia that detained over 300 South Korean nationals. This agreement came after intense diplomatic negotiations and public outrage in South Korea over the treatment of its workers, highlighting longstanding frustrations about limited visa access for skilled Korean labor despite significant U.S. investments from South Korean companies. While the U.S. has reaffirmed the use of existing visa channels and plans to open dedicated visa services for South Korean businesses, it has not agreed to create a new visa category sought by Seoul to provide broader access for specialized workers. The incident underscored the challenges South Korean firms face in deploying skilled workers for their U.S. projects and triggered calls for more fundamental visa reforms. Both governments continue to work on improving bilateral trade and investment partnerships amid these immigration and labor issues.