Seoul is targeting US lawmakers of constituencies that have attracted South Korean corporate investment in its efforts to support the creation of skilled worker visa quotas exclusively for South Koreans, data from the embassy to the United States showed Tuesday.
The embassy's data also showed that a number of US lawmakers whom Seoul has reached out to are considered pro-Trump, which according to People Power Party Rep. Kim Gunn, who obtained the data, could present hurdles in the short term.
The pending bill, known as the Partner With Korea Act, aims to allot up to 15,000 new E-4 visas for highly skilled South Korean workers each year.
In a statement provided to Kim and obtained by The Korea Herald, the South Korean Embassy in the US had since last year reached out to a number of lawmakers, including Sens. Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, as well as Reps. Mike Rogers of Alabama and Jim Jordan of Ohio — all Republicans.
The embassy described McCormick, Rogers and Blackburn as US lawmakers representing electoral districts where South Korean companies have "actively expanded." It also stated that Jordan is in charge of handling immigration legislation in the US Congress as chair of the US House Judiciary Committee.
The Republican members of the Senate and House of Representatives are considered to be firmly within the Trump camp, aligning with US President Donald Trump's signature "Make America Great Again" policies that include tight border controls and immigration restrictions.
Kim of the People Power Party, a former diplomat, said that focusing on pro-Trump US lawmakers whose constituencies have high South Korean corporate investment "is unlikely to yield short-term results."
He said that while the selected US lawmakers may hail the bill as facilitating South Korean investment, close Trump allies are unlikely to veer from the current administration's immigration policy.
"We need to look at the big picture," Kim said.
Alongside the Republicans leaning toward Trump, Rep. Ted Lieu — a Democrat from California — was also on the list of US lawmakers the embassy reached out to.
None of the lawmakers on the embassy's list have either sponsored or co-sponsored the Partner With Korea Act since 2025.
"I feel (the embassy) needs to broaden its scope (of outreach) to engage with US lawmakers who could potentially be supportive of (the immigration-related legislation) in the future," Kim said.
The bipartisan bill was meant to add 15,000 slots for highly skilled work visas each year by establishing a new category for Korean nationals, following in line with exceptions for Australia, Singapore and Chile.
The latest bill, sponsored by Rep. Young Kim (R-California) in 2025, remains pending in the US Congress.
Similar legislative efforts were undertaken from 2014 to 2023, but none made their way into law.
In line with its move to navigate chances for the US Congress to advance talks of a specialty occupation visa for South Koreans migrating to the US, the embassy has hired two more foreign agents this year.
Two US-based specialized firms — Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld along with Squire Patton Boggs — were the latest additions for the embassy's list of foreign agents this year, as of September.
According to a separate set of data from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs obtained by Kim's office on Wednesday, the embassy hired the two companies for their advisory services and outreach to the US Congress concerning the skilled visa program and US economic situations.
Akin Gump is the newest addition this year, while Squire Patton Boggs returned to the fold after three years.
This brought the total number of foreign agents active under the Foreign Agents Registration Act on behalf of the embassy to six, alongside Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Thomas Capitol Partners, Mercury Public Affairs and Qorvis.
The embassy has signed contracts with the six firms worth $1.54 million combined during the time frame, according to Kim's office.
The 2026 figure from January through September was already higher than the allocated annual state budget to the embassy in 2025, which amounted to 1.89 billion won ($1.39 million).
Nearly $1 million went to Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck and Thomas Capitol Partners combined. To the newly added agents, Akin Gump and Squire Patton Boggs received a combined $367,500 in the first half of this year.
Currently, H-1B US visa recipients originating from South Korea amount to 3,987, or 1 percent of all specialty occupation workers who were issued H-1B visa to enter the US.
consnow@heraldcorp.com