The return of the detained Koreans is now complete:

A total of 316 Korean workers who were detained in a recent U.S. immigration crackdown headed back home aboard a chartered plane Thursday, in a voluntary yet bitter departure amid renewed questions in Seoul over U.S. credibility as a reliable ally.

The Korean Air plane carrying them and 14 non-Korean nationals took off from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta at noon, a week after their arrest in the raid at an electric vehicle battery plant construction site for a joint venture between Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution in Bryan County, Georgia.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but this immigration crackdown is ultimately going to be a good thing for Korean businesses. First of all the U.S. government saying these detained workers will not be disadvantaged from receiving a proper work visa in the future.

Secondly the U.S. government is going to set up a working group to expand employee visas for Korean businesses operating in the U.S. It appears that these businesses have been able to skirt immigration laws for so long there was never an urgency to get the situation fixed. Now due to enforcement there is an urgency to fix the problem which in the long run is good for Korean businesses.

Google Maps may work in the future in Korea:

Google has reaffirmed its willingness to comply with South Korea’s stringent national security protocols as it seeks government approval to export high-precision map data — a highly sensitive issue that has sparked public and political debate in recent months.

At a rare press conference held in Seoul on Tuesday, Cris Turner, vice president of government affairs and public policy at Google, underscored the company’s readiness to accommodate the Korean government’s requirements, including the removal of sensitive geospatial details.

“We’ve been in close communication with the Korean government to understand and address their concerns,” Turner said. “(As part of our commitment,) We will remove latitude and longitude coordinates for places in Korea.”

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

It looks like the detained Koreans in Georgia are going to be held a little while longer:

The planned departure of hundreds of Korean workers detained in Georgia during an immigration raid has been delayed, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Wednesday, due to “a cause from the U.S. side.”

It did not explain what the cause was, raising concerns that their detention could be extended.

The ministry said in a message to reporters that the plane’s departure, which was initially planned for 2:30 p.m. Wednesday (local time) from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, was postponed, without stating a new departure time.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

So does this mean 6 in 10 Koreans would not mind 400 people from a foreign country showing up and constructing a building in Seoul on improper visas?:

A majority of Koreans said they were disappointed in the U.S. government following the recent mass detention of Korean workers at a battery plant in Georgia, a poll showed Tuesday.

According to a survey of more than 500 adults recently conducted by Realmeter, 59.2 percent of respondents said they view the immigration crackdown on Hyundai Motor Group-LG Energy Solution’s factory site as “excessive” and expressed disappointment with the Donald Trump administration’s actions. Only 30.7 found the measures “understandable and inevitable.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It looks like Eighth Army may finally get a long term commander:

The former commander of the Alaska-based 11th Airborne Division has been nominated by President Donald Trump to lead U.S. ground operations in South Korea. Maj. Gen. Joseph Hilbert was nominated Friday to promotion to lieutenant general and assignment as commander of the Eighth Army, according to a Pentagon news release Friday. The post requires Senate confirmation. Hilbert now serves as the special assistant to the commander of U.S. Army Pacific out of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska.

Stars and Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It looks like Korea may see a surge in Chinese tourists:

A temporary visa waiver program for Chinese group tourists who visit Korea will begin later this month, officials said Sunday, as part of efforts to boost the nation’s tourism market.

Under the visa-free program, a group of Chinese tourists with more than three people can travel to Korea without visas for as many as 15 days from Sept. 29 to June next year, according to a joint statement by justice, culture and other ministries.

Korea Times

You can read at the link.

It looks like Korea’s “Bali-Bali” culture led to the Hyundai and LG workers not wanting to wait and go through the H1B visa process:

Many of those reportedly entered the US using B1 visas — issued for business purposes, such as attending meetings or signing contracts — or through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization visa waiver program for short-term stays. US immigration officials said that was the central issue in the raid.

Foreign nationals must acquire an appropriate visa such as the H-1B, L1 or E2 to legally obtain employment at workplaces located in the US. But as those visas can take months to obtain and their numbers are capped, they are often deemed impractical for companies that need to dispatch workers frequently or on short notice. Industry officials also complain that wait times for all types of visas have lengthened since the start of the Trump administration.

According to Korean media reports, the US allocates annual H-1B visa quotas to certain countries with which it has free trade agreements, including Canada, Mexico, Singapore, Chile and Australia. Despite having a free trade agreement with the US, South Korea does not receive a quota.

In response to the concern, an official from Seoul’s Foreign Ministry, who requested anonymity, noted that H-1B visas are distributed through a lottery. The official said that the ministry has repeatedly urged the US government and Congress since 2012 to create a separate visa quota for Korean professionals, such as via the proposed Partner With Korea Act.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link, but I wonder how many of the jobs the detained Joreans were doing could have been done by Americans?

It will be interesting to see if the personnel deported will be allowed back into the country again in the future with a proper work visa. With that said I am sure every Korean business is reviewing visa status of their workers now:

The Korean government said Sunday that talks with U.S. authorities to release more than 300 Korean workers detained in Georgia were finished, and that only administrative steps remained before a chartered plane would be dispatched to bring them home.

Presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik announced the development at a high-level policy meeting in Seoul, saying the release as imminent thanks to swift cooperation among government ministries, business groups and companies.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.