Some 300 South Korean workers have returned home a week after being detained in a large-scale US immigration raid at a battery project site in Georgia.

Workers wearing face masks began disembarking a chartered plane at Incheon airport on Friday and were greeted with cheers from officials including the presidential chief of staff.

Their return capped a week of intense negotiations by Seoul to win their release and bring them home after they were taken into custody in handcuffs and shackles - shocking many in South Korea, a key US ally.

South Korean businesses have long struggled with obtaining proper visas for specialist workers needed at project sites for months at a time, which has led to some workers relying on grey areas in US visa enforcement.

The two countries are looking at estab

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