316 Koreans return home safely
Updated : 2025-09-12 20:48:50 KST
316 Koreans return home safely after week-long detention in U.S. immigration facility
Good evening, and thank you for joining us on this Friday evening. I'm Song Yoo-jin, filling in for Kim Dami. We begin tonight here in South Korea, where relief is setting in after a week of worry. More than 300 Korean workers detained in the U.S. state of Georgia finally returned home this afternoon. To walk us through the latest developments, we're joined by Arirang's Foreign Affairs correspondent Oh Soo-young, who has been following this story from the start.
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set in (계속될 기세로) 시작하다[되다]
walk somebody through (어떤 것을 배우거나 익힐 수 있도록 단계별로 차례차례) ~에게 ~을 보여 주다 (→관련 명사는 walk-through; (연극·공연 등의) 연습[리허설], (어떤 절차에 대한) 자세한 설명)
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1. So we saw live the scenes of South Koreans returning home from a very long and dramatic week. That's right. it was a moment of great relief as 316 Koreans and 14 nationals of Japan, Indonesia and China touched down in South Korea at 3:23 PM on Friday, ending their week-long detainment under U.S. immigration authorities, who conducted a massive raid on a Hyundai-LG battery plant in Georgia. After a 15-hour journey on a chartered Korean Air flight from Atlanta, we saw Koreans stepping off the plane, evidently tired, many of them on the phone presumably with their loved ones to tell them they had landed safely.
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touch down 착륙하다
step off [탈것]에서 내리다
presumably 아마, 짐작건대
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Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoo-shik was also waiting for them, welcoming them back as they soon as they stepped off the plane. "We are considering options like counselling to support their mental health. There was one pregnant woman on board and we ensured she had a First Class seat. We welcomed them all back with applause and a sense of relief." They are now home-bound --some with their families who greeted them at the airport. The 14 foreign nationals will have their accommodation and plane tickets to their home countries arranged by the company.
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home-bound 귀향
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During bilateral negotiations to secure their release, Seoul pressured Washington to rule out deportation, or trials, and enable a swift "voluntary departure," so that the workers can avoid tarnishing their U.S. immigration records. Out of 317 Koreans arrested, all but one, who remains due to family ties, have completed their voluntary departure. 2. But that's not the end of the issue. This incident exposed a fundamental problem with visa issuance for Korean firms in the U.S., when bringing over Korean workers to build and set up factories.
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tarnish (평판을) 더럽히다[손상시키다] (=taint)
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Yes. A clear reminder that there are outstanding issues, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun arrived back in Korea an hour after the workers' chartered flight. He flew over to Washington, D.C., not only to negotiate their release,.. but also to propose establishing a bilateral working group with the U.S. to work on visa tracks for professionals. "To resolve this issue fundamentally, we agreed to create a working group between the U.S. State Department and our Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to establish a new visa category.
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This group will include talks on setting up a separate desk at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul so that people working in fields linked to Korean investment in the U.S. can obtain visas as quickly as possible." This crisis proved how the lack of dedicated visa programs for Koreans makes it extremely difficult for firms to actually invest in the States, as they cannot deploy workers with specialised skillsets to complete key facilities and set up operations.
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skillset 기술 역량
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In fact, President Donald Trump himself appeared to recognise the need for foreign skilled workers to enable foreign direct investment projects, and ultimately strengthen American competence in high tech areas. Trump even held up the Korean workers' chartered flight by almost 24 hours, suggesting they stay on at the Georgia factory. Before leaving Washington, Minister Cho Hyun met with members of Congress who welcomed the idea of establishing a working group to prevent similar incidents.
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hold up 지연시키다
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Cho explained that the Korean public is deeply concerned about the mass detention of Korean professionals, who visited the United States to faithfully carry out investment projects, and that he has been conducting consultations with the U.S. with a heavy heart. Q3. In fact, South Korea's top office underscored the need to introduce fundamental solutions.
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with a heavy heart 침울하게
underscore 강조하다
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Yes, this afternoon, National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac told the press that from this incident, the task ahead is to draw lessons and design measures to prevent recurrences, highlighting the role of the bilateral working group that the foreign ministry will be pursuing. He called for a phased approach to improve the current visa system and also create new visa categories.
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draw lessons 거울로 삼다, 교훈을 끌어내다
phased approach 단계적 접근
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He set out a roadmap of first clarifying guidelines on existing visa schemes to remove uncertainty for Korean firms. Second, working with the U.S. to shorten the time taken to issue visas, and lowering rejection rates. In the long-run, U.S. laws would need amending to create new visa quotas and create types of visas for Koreans. All right Soo-young we're glad to see the safe return of Korean nationals. Thanks for coming in today.
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set out 착수하다
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영어 원문 출처 및 동영상 링크;
arirang news/Foreign Policy
https://m.arirang.com/news/view?id=287133
