SEOUL, South Korea. More than 300 South Korean workers detained in a massive U.S. immigration raid at a Hyundai plant in Georgia will be released and flown home, the South Korean government announced Sunday.
Kang Hoon-sik, chief of staff for President Lee Jae Myung, said Seoul and Washington had concluded negotiations for the workers’ release. He added that South Korea would send a chartered plane once final administrative steps were completed.
The Foreign Ministry said both governments are working on arrangements to allow the workers to return voluntarily. Foreign Minister Cho Hyun is scheduled to depart for the United States on Monday afternoon to pursue further talks on the issue.
U.S. immigration authorities confirmed Friday that 475 people were detained, most of them South Korean nationals, after hundreds of federal agents raided Hyundai’s electric vehicle manufacturing site in Georgia. The raid focused on a plant under construction where Hyundai has partnered with LG Energy Solution to produce EV batteries. Cho said more than 300 of those detained were South Koreans.
The operation was part of workplace raids linked to the Trump administration’s mass deportation policies. However, Thursday’s raid drew particular attention due to its scale and because the targeted site has been promoted as Georgia’s largest economic development project.
The incident alarmed many in South Korea, a key U.S. ally, especially after Seoul had recently agreed to purchase $100 billion in U.S. energy and invest $350 billion in the United States in exchange for lower tariff rates. The raid came less than two weeks after President Donald Trump met President Lee in Washington.
Speaking Sunday night at Andrews Air Force Base, Trump suggested that South Korean workers might temporarily remain to train U.S. workers. “If you don’t have people in this country right now that know about batteries, maybe we should help them along and let some people come in and train our people,” he said. “The way you train people is bring people in that know what they’re doing, let them stay for a little while and help.”
Lee emphasized that the rights of South Korean nationals and the economic activities of South Korean companies should not be “unfairly infringed upon during U.S. law enforcement procedures.” The Foreign Ministry also expressed “concern and regret” and dispatched diplomats to the site.
Footage released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement showed federal agents directing workers to line up, frisking detainees, and shackling some at the wrists, ankles, and waist. Most were taken to an immigration detention center in Folkston, Georgia, near the Florida state line.
Steven Schrank, lead Georgia agent for Homeland Security Investigations, said Friday that none of the detainees had yet been charged with crimes. He noted that some had illegally crossed the U.S. border, while others had overstayed visas or violated visa waiver restrictions prohibiting employment.
Kang said South Korea would review and improve visa systems for business travelers involved in investment projects in the United States.
Edgardo Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
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