Seoul's Foreign Minister Cho Hyun vowed Wednesday to "rescue" South Koreans detained in a recent US immigration crackdown "within the shortest time," as his ministry cited "unspecified US circumstances" as the reason for a delay in their release from a detention center in Georgia.
Cho's remarks came as he is set to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the White House to discuss a range of issues concerning the detainees. They were initially scheduled to meet Tuesday, but their talks were rescheduled for Wednesday.
"(We) will ensure whatever it takes ... in the best way that our citizens will be rescued and be able to board a (chartered) plane within the shortest time," Cho told reporters.
Asked to elaborate on the US circumstances that led to a delay in the Koreans' release, Cho said, "We are not at a stage to tell you about that."
More than 300 South Korean workers were initially set to board a chartered flight Wednesday at an airport in Atlanta to return home, six days after their arrest in an immigration raid at an electric vehicle battery plant construction site for a joint venture of Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution in Bryan County near Savannah.
A total of 475 people, including some 300 Koreans, were arrested in the raid, which US authorities dubbed as the "largest single site enforcement operation in the history of Homeland Security Investigations."
US officials said those arrested were found to be working illegally in the US, including those on short-term or recreational visas that bar them from working. (Yonhap)
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