South Korea, US Hold 1st Meeting of Working Group to Address Visa Issues
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – South Korea and the United States held the first meeting of a bilateral working group in Washington on Tuesday to address visa issues for South Korean businessmen investing in the United States, the South Korean foreign ministry said Wednesday.
The South Korea-US visa working group was launched and had its inaugural meeting, attended by Jung Ki-hong, South Korean representative for its nationals overseas protection and consular affairs, and Kevin Kim, the US State Department's senior bureau official for East Asian and Pacific affairs, Xinhua reported.
The meeting came after the detention and the release of 316 South Korean workers in the Sept. 4 US immigration raid at the construction site of an electric vehicle battery plant operated by a joint venture between Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution.
The raid followed South Korea's verbal agreement in late July to invest 350 billion US dollars in the United States in exchange for the US tariffs cut on South Korean goods.
During the working group meeting, the US side agreed to take necessary measures such as setting up a dedicated desk at the US embassy in Seoul, tentatively named the Korean Investor Desk.
The US side reaffirmed that South Korean companies can use the B-1 short-term business visitor visa for activities associated with their investment process in the United States such as installing, servicing and repairing equipment purchased from overseas, and that the businessmen in the ESTA visa waiver program can conduct the same activities as the B-1 visa holders.
The two sides agreed to establish mutual communication lines among South Korea's diplomatic missions in the United States, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the US Customs and Border Protection.
