Seoul, Sep 7 South Korea's Foreign Minister Cho Hyun has been making arrangements with the United States for a possible visit to the US this week as part of efforts to respond to the arrests of hundreds of South Koreans by American immigration authorities at a battery plant site in Georgia, a source said on Sunday.
More than 300 South Korean nationals out of 457 people have been taken into custody during a US immigration raid on Thursday on the site operated by South Korean companies Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution in Bryan County.
If the trip is realised, Cho is expected to meet US officials to request their cooperation for the swift release of detained South Koreans, while calling for their rights not to be unfairly violated, according to the diplomatic source.
During a government response meeting to the US immigration arrests on Saturday, Cho said he would visit Washington if necessary for talks with US officials, reports Yonhap news agency.
Consular officials started meeting South Korean nationals detained at an immigration detention centre in Folkston on Saturday, checking their health and other conditions, according to Seoul officials.
The on-site team is currently led by Cho Ki-joong, consul general at the Korean Embassy in Washington. The team focuses on ensuring that the detained Koreans will be set free as soon as possible amid concerns that the investigation process could be prolonged.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said that those arrested were found to be working illegally in the United States, including those on short-term or recreational visas that prohibit them from working.
US officials cast Thursday's raid as "the largest single-site enforcement operation in the history of Homeland Security Investigations." US President Donald Trump expressed his support on Friday for the ICE operation, describing those detained as "illegal aliens."
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