Seoul [South Korea] September 6 : The South Korean government has expressed "deep concern" afte 300 of its nationals were arrested by US immigration authorities at Hyundai manufacturing site in Georgia, Yonhap News reported.
This comes only weeks after Washington and Seoul announced a major trade agreement in July. Last month, speaking to reporters at White House, Trump also called the trade deal with South Korea "historic".
South Korea's Foreign Minister Cho Hyun on Saturday chaired an emergency meeting in Seoul, where he confirmed that out of 457 people taken into custody, over 300 were South Koreans, as per Yohnap News.
"We are deeply concerned and feel a heavy sense of responsibility over the arrests of our nationals," Cho said, adding that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had activated its Overseas Citizens Protection Task Force.
He stressed that the economic activities of South Korean companies investing in the United States should not be "unjustly infringed" upon during law enforcement operations. Cho also instructed officials to provide active consular support for those detained.
During the meeting, Cho said he might personally travel to Washington to raise the issue.
"We will discuss sending a senior foreign ministry official to the site without delay, and, if necessary, I will personally travel to Washington to hold consultations with the U.S. administration," he said, as per Yonhap News.
According to Yonhap news, First Vice Minister of South Korea, Park Yoon-joo spoke with Allison Hooker, US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs. Park conveyed Seoul's regret over the arrests and the public disclosure of footage showing South Korean nationals being detained. Hooker assured that the US State Department was "closely monitoring" the situation.
American authorities have described the arrests as part of a criminal probe into alleged violations of immigration and employment rules. Homeland Security officials said those detained included individuals who overstayed visas or entered through visa waiver programmes that prohibited them from working. Most of them are now being held at a detention facility in Folkston, Georgia, Yonhap News further mentioned.
US President Donald Trump, responding to the matter on Friday, defended the crackdown, calling the arrested individuals "illegal aliens" and saying immigration officers were "just doing their job."
In July, Trump announced that the US and South Korea had reached a "full and complete trade deal," which included a 15 per cent tariff on South Korean exports, a $350 billion investment commitment to US projects, and $100 billion in energy purchases.
"I am pleased to announce that the United States of America has agreed to a Full and Complete Trade Deal with the Republic of Korea. The Deal is that South Korea will give to the United States $350 Billion Dollars for Investments owned and controlled by the United States, and selected by myself, as President. Additionally, South Korea will purchase $100 Billion Dollars of LNG, or other Energy products and, further, South Korea has agreed to invest a large sum of money for their Investment purposes," Trump had said.
Sharing details of the agreement, Cho had earlier told ANI that the deal reflected a "win-win" outcome despite global trade tensions. "This is something not unexpected given the rapidly changing situation in global trade. We were able to sort out a problem and make a win-win through these negotiations," he said during a visit to India in August.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to make every best effort to resolve this issue as soon as possible," Cho said, and noted that his government is committed to protecting the rights and interests of South Koreans working overseas.