AUTOS BIG PART OF SOUTH KOREAN INVESTMENT IN US
South Korea’s presidential chief of staff, Kang Hun-sik, said on Sunday the government will seek ways to improve the visa system of Korean workers travelling to the United States to “prevent a similar incident”.
DHS has said the arrested workers were barred from working in the US after crossing the border illegally or overstaying visas.
Relations remain fraught between Washington and Seoul, a key US ally and investor, as both sides seek to hammer out final details of their trade deal announced in July.
The trade deal includes a US$350 billion fund to help Korean companies enter the US market, while Hyundai said it was boosting its US investments to US$26 billion, including a US-based robotics facility.
Seoul is bracing for the impact on its auto sector of a lower tariff on Japanese cars imported to the US while the duty for South Korean autos remains at 25 per cent. Autos are a major export industry for South Korea’s trade-reliant economy.
The site of the raid was a US$4.3 billion project to produce EV batteries, with Hyundai and LG Energy Solution each holding a 50 per cent stake as part of one of the largest economic development projects in Georgia’s history.
LG Energy Solution has suspended staff business trips to the US other than certain exceptional cases and will be recalling those employees now in the United States.
Trump may visit South Korea in October for the gathering of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation event, CNN reported on Saturday, citing three Trump administration officials.
