A new bill has been introduced in the U.S. Senate calling for more non-immigration visas to be issued for highly skilled South Korean workers, congressional records showed Thursday.
  

Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) initiated the bill (S.1547) Wednesday, together with co-sponsors Sens. Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Mark Warner (D-VA). The legislation is titled, "A bill to provide high-skilled visas for nationals of the Republic of Korea, and for other purposes."
  

A similar bill was introduced in the House of Representatives in February.
  

The bill, if adopted by both chambers of Congress, would drastically increase the number of highly skilled South Korean professionals to be admitted to the U.S. with non-immigration visas.
  

Details of the legislation were not immediately available, but the measure is believed to be similar to previous unsuccessful bills that called for up to 15,000 H-1B visas each year for South Koreans in such areas as information technology, engineering, mathematics, physical sciences, social sciences, biotechnology and medicine and health.
  

Currently, H-1B visas are granted to about 3,500 South Koreans a year. The South Korean government has sought to increase the number, contending that the current quota falls far short of the need in consideration of a growing number of South Koreans studying and seeking professional jobs in the U.S. (Yonhap)