A bill to include South Korea to the U.S. E-3 nonimmigrant visa program for professionals was reintroduced to the Congress, after some 300 South Koreans at the site of a new plant in Georgia as part of South Korean corporate investment were arrested and detained in an immigration raid.

At a press conference on Friday, Democrat Congressman Thomas Suozzi from New York's Third District announced the bill's reintroduction, which includes South Korea to the visa program initially designed for professionals of Australian nationality.

He had introduced the bill last year, but it was scrapped without any progress in discussion.

Suozzi said the recent arrest of the South Korean workers at the site of a joint venture between Hyundai Motor and LG Energy Solution in Georgia was a horrific display of how the U.S. treats its good friend.

He added that Korean American Republican Congresswoman Young Kim of California's 40th District shares his views and is a co-sponsor of the bill.

A similar bill introduced by Kim in July is pending in Congress, which stipulates issuance of a maximum 15-thousand E-4 visas each year for South Korean professionals.