*

South Koreans get assurance workers allowed to set up,

service

equipment in US under temporary visas

*

US repeats legal obstacles to fundamental change for

greater

access to South Koreans

*

US is committed to investment partnership, Deputy

Secretary of

State Landau says

(Recasts with South Korea foreign ministry, more details)

SEOUL, Oct 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. has agreed to allow

South Koreans to work to set up facilities at U.S. investment

sites under existing temporary visas and open new channels to

help its ally send workers to do business there, Seoul's foreign

ministry said on Wednesday.

But U.S. officials at a working group meeting offered no new

answers to South Korea's argument for a wider access to U.S.

visas for specialty workers despite reaffirming a commitment to

advance trade and investment partnership, the ministry said.

The U.S. side made up of Departments of State, Homeland

Security and Commerce officials made clear South Korean workers

can work to install, service and repair equipment needed as part

of South Korean business investment in the U.S., it said.

A new section dedicated for visas related to South Korean

businesses will be set up at the U.S. embassy in Seoul and U.S.

immigration authorities will open a new channel with South

Korean missions to better coordinate visa matters, according to

the foreign ministry.

The working group was set up in the aftermath of a

massive immigration raid at a Hyundai Motor ( HYMLF ) car

battery facility under construction in the U.S. state of Georgia

in September where hundreds of South Korean workers were

arrested.

The arrests, which stunned the South Korean government and

public, highlighted the lack of access to the right class of

U.S. visas for specialised South Korean workers needed at

investment sites.

The U.S. officials said a more fundamental change to U.S.

visa systems to accommodate Seoul's demand for clearer and

certain access for its specialty workers faced "practical

legislative constraints," the South Korean ministry said.

South Korea has pushed for years for a bill that would

create or expand visa categories to accommodate skilled South

Korean nationals who need to visit the United States.

That bill has had difficulty getting through Congress

because visas are linked to immigration, one of the most

sensitive subjects in the United States, according to South

Korea's foreign ministry.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau stressed

the "critical role" of the skilled workers of South Korean

companies investing in the U.S. at the group's first meeting in

Washington, the State Department separately said.

The U.S. was committed to encouraging investment by

companies from South Korea as one of the leading foreign

investors in the country, it said in a statement.

The working group will hold further meetings, South Korea's

foreign ministry said.

(Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Jamie Freed and Lincoln

Feast.)