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South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun (left) shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio during their meeting at the State Department in Washington, D.C., on July 31. / Source: Ham Han-joo, Washington Corresponden

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, who rushed to Washington to resolve the case of more than 330 Koreans detained by U.S. immigration authorities, will meet U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on September 10 — a day later than initially planned.

The South Korean Embassy in Washington said on September 9 (local time) that Cho will hold talks with Rubio at 9:30 a.m. on September 10 (10:30 p.m. KST). Cho had originally been expected to meet his counterpart a day earlier, shortly after his late-night arrival in the U.S. capital.

The meeting is expected to finalize arrangements allowing detained Korean workers at a Georgia facility to depart on a charter flight on September 10 under voluntary departure. Sources said the workers’ repatriation will proceed as scheduled, regardless of the one-day delay in talks.

Seoul is focusing its diplomatic efforts on ensuring that the detainees, whose visa categories and residency statuses vary, face no disadvantages in future reentry to the U.S.

The two sides are also likely to discuss establishing a dedicated E-4 visa for Korean professionals or securing an allocation within the H-1B program, given that the root of the crisis lies in the absence of sufficient legal visa channels for skilled Korean personnel despite major Korean investments in the U.S.

Commenting on the issue, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt reiterated that President Donald Trump “understands that companies investing in the U.S. want to bring highly skilled and trained workers with them,” adding that DHS and the Commerce Department are “working together on this matter.”