"Visa and Worker System Reforms Needed to Prevent Recurrence"
Ahn Cheolsoo, a member of the People Power Party, has urged President Lee Jaemyung and Foreign Minister Cho Hyun to respond swiftly to the detention of Korean workers in Georgia, United States.
On September 8, through social media, Ahn stated, "Last Thursday, around 300 of our citizens were arrested and detained by U.S. immigration authorities at a battery factory construction site in Georgia." He criticized, "The Foreign Minister should have rushed to the scene as soon as the incident was recognized, and the President should have made every effort to secure worker visas during the Korea-U.S. summit."
He continued, "Protecting the lives and safety of our people is the top priority for the President and all public officials," emphasizing, "It is unacceptable that we could not even secure a single visa for a project involving an investment of 700 trillion won." He also stressed that there should be no punitive measures such as future entry restrictions to the United States, and called for immediate consultations with the U.S. side to secure more professional visas such as H-1B and to improve the system for Korean workers to prevent recurrence.
Ahn added that, as a member of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, he would do his utmost until the situation is fully resolved.
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