As imprisoned workers prepare to return home, South Korea and the United States will explore a new visa category.

After 475 workers were apprehended at a Hyundai Motor site during a U.S. immigration operation, Seoul's Foreign Minister was cited as suggesting that the United States and South Korea would talk about creating a new visa category for Koreans.According to the Yonhap News Agency, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun also stated that he received guarantees that the South Koreans who are scheduled for release will not be at a disadvantage if they attempt to re-enter the United States following a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday, September 10, 2025.Following the detention of over 300 South Koreans by U.S. immigration officials last week at the location of an electric vehicle battery plant in Georgia, Mr. Cho had gone to Washington to try to resolve what has turned into a diplomatic quagmire.Mr. Cho was also quoted by Yonhap as saying that the group will not be handcuffed when they are moved from the detention facility to the airport and that a chartered plane transporting the workers will leave the United States on Thursday, September 11, 2025. When aliens are placed aboard deportation aircraft, U.S. immigration officials frequently shackle and handcuff them.

There was no immediate comment from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security or the State Department.Mr. Cho told Mr., Rubio that Koreans were "hurt and shocked" by the arrest of workers "who came to the U.S. to transfer technology and know-how to contribute to the Trump administration's efforts to revive the U.S. manufacturing industry," South Korea's foreign ministry said earlier. Korean businesses have complained about strict U.S. limits on visas for skilled foreign workers, which they say make it difficult for them to oversee construction of factories or to train local workers.