South Korea says plane with detained workers unlikely to leave U.S. on Wednesday

By Hyunjoo Jin and Ju-min Park

SEOUL, Sept 10 (Reuters) - South Korea is working with U.S. authorities to bring home hundreds of Korean workers detained in an immigration raid in the state of Georgia, though it will be difficult to fly them back on Wednesday, Seoul's foreign ministry said.

Earlier, a source familiar with the matter said a chartered plane carrying the workers was due to depart for South Korea from Atlanta at around 2:30 p.m. (1830 GMT) on Wednesday.

The ministry said in a statement it aimed to bring the workers home as quickly as possible, though it was unlikely that the plane would depart on Wednesday as planned due to U.S. circumstances.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet South Korea's Foreign Minister Cho Hyun on Wednesday at the White House to discuss the issue, the U.S. Department of State said.

Cho told a meeting with Korean companies in Washington that he would ensure the safe return of the workers and that their ability to re-enter the United States would not be affected, the foreign ministry said.

South Korea had arranged for a chartered plane to bring back about 300 workers detained in last week's raid at the site of the $4.3 billion Hyundai Motor 005380.KS and LG Energy Solution 373220.KS project to build batteries for electric cars.

Many of the detained workers are employees of subcontractors involved in the project.

The plane left South Korea for Atlanta on Wednesday morning, flight data showed. A smaller number of Japanese and Chinese nationals arrested during the same immigration raid will also board the plane, South Korean media reported.

Representatives of Korean companies, including Hyundai Motor and LG, urged the government to negotiate with the U.S. for a new type of visa for Korean professionals and to get clearer visa guidelines to reduce uncertainty and support their businesses in the United States, the foreign ministry said.

Korean businesses have complained about strict U.S. limits on visas for skilled foreign workers, which they say make it difficult for them to oversee the construction of factories or to train the local workforce.

"Both sides (South Korea and the U.S.) are working towards resolving the visa issue smoothly to support Korean companies in the U.S.," a South Korean foreign ministry official said, without providing details.

President Donald Trump said in a social media post on Sunday that the U.S. would make it "quickly and legally possible" for foreign companies to bring their staff into the country if they respected U.S. immigration laws.

When asked about potential changes to the U.S. visa system, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt reiterated Trump's message and noted that the U.S. government was working on the issue.

"The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Commerce are working on this matter together," she told a news conference on Tuesday.