U.S. and South Korea to hold talks on visas for Korean workers

South Korea and the United States will meet for their first working group discussions on Tuesday on visa systems for South Korean companies operating in the U.S., Seoul's foreign ministry said.

Wi Sung-lac, South Korea's top national security adviser, said on Monday the country would resolve the visa issues as quickly as possible to create a better environment for Korean investments in the United States.

"We will focus on making current (visa) systems more clear and seek to design a new category in addition to that, though it is hard to know when this will be completed," Wi told a media briefing on Monday.

"We will try to achieve an outcome as quickly as possible," he said.

The talks come after a massive raid at the beginning of September that led to the arrests of hundreds of South Korean workers at a Hyundai Motor car battery facility under construction in Georgia.

South Korean companies have become major investors in the U.S., building factories that often require highly technical skill sets that are not easy to find in the United States. Unlike some countries such as Australia, Canada and Mexico, South Koreans do not have access to special treaty work visas. 

Instead, workers from South Korean companies have used visa waiver programmes or temporary visas for some business-related activities.

Tariffs

Meanwhile, Washington had agreed to lower tariffs on imports from South Korea in return for an investment package, but follow-up negotiations to hammer out details, including the structure of the deal, have stalled.

However, Wi reiterated that South Korea was unable to pay $350 billion in cash for the package which President Donald Trump had suggested would be part of a deal to cut tax hikes.

Visa issues for Korean workers are not necessarily connected to the ongoing tariff negotiations, but resolving those issues would help the country's businesses in the U.S., according to Wi.

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