The workers had been held at an immigration detention center in Folkston, 285 miles (460 kilometers) southeast of Atlanta. South Korea’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that U.S. authorities have released the 330 detainees — 316 of them Koreans — and that they were being driven by bus to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, where they will board a charter flight scheduled to arrive in South Korea on Friday afternoon. The group also includes 10 Chinese nationals, three Japanese nationals and one Indonesian.
South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung called Thursday for improvements to the United States' visa system, saying Korean companies will likely hesitate to make new investments in the U.S. until that happens.
South Korean officials have said they were negotiating with the U.S. to win “voluntary” departures for the workers, rather than deportations, which could make them ineligible to return to the U.S. for up to 10 years.
During a visit to Washington, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and told him that his people were left with “big pains and shocks” because the video of the workers’ arrests was publicly disclosed, the ministry said in a statement.
Cho called for the U.S. administration to help the workers leave as soon as possible — without being handcuffed — and to ensure they do not face problems in future reentry to the U.S., the statement said.