Employees who had been detained in an immigration raid at the Hyundai Motor–LG Energy Solution battery plant construction site leave an ICE detention facility in Folkston, Georgia, on Thursday, heading for Atlanta airport. (Yonhap) A senior US diplomat will visit South Korea this week as part of a multi-nation trip aimed at highlighting the United States’ commitment to alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific, the State Department said Thursday.
From Friday through next Thursday, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau will travel to Korea, Papua New Guinea, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands, it said, noting that he will focus on fostering collaboration, enhancing security and deepening economic ties as Washington seeks a “free, open and prosperous” Indo-Pacific.
Landau’s visit to Korea comes as the detention of more than 310 South Koreans in a recent immigration crackdown caused public outrage there. They headed back home aboard a chartered plane on Thursday morning, a week after their arrest in the crackdown.
In Seoul, the deputy secretary plans to meet South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and business leaders, the department said.
He will then travel to Port Moresby to participate in events marking Papua New Guinea’s 50th anniversary of independence, engage with Pacific Island leaders at the US-Pacific Islands Forum Roundtable, before traveling to the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
“This visit demonstrates the United States’ ongoing efforts to deepen partnerships and advance shared priorities across the region,” the department said. (Yonhap)