SEOUL, South Korea — Over 300 South Korean employees who were held after a significant immigration operation at a Hyundai facility in Georgia are set to be released and returned to South Korea, the government announced on Sunday.
Kang Hoon-sik, the head aide to President Lee Jae Myung, declared that discussions between South Korea and the U.S. regarding the workers’ release have concluded. South Korea plans to dispatch a chartered aircraft to retrieve the workers once all necessary administrative procedures are finalized.
Foreign Minister Cho Hyun is to leave for the U.S. on Monday for talks related to the workers’ releases, South Korean media reported.
U.S. immigration officials reported that on Friday, they apprehended 475 individuals, primarily South Koreans, during a large-scale federal raid at Hyundai’s extensive production site in Georgia, where the company manufactures electric cars. The operation centered on a facility still under construction, in collaboration with LG Energy Solution, to produce batteries for electric vehicles.
Cho said that more than 300 South Koreans were among the detained.
This raid is the most recent in a series of workplace operations linked to the Trump administration’s expansive deportation policy. However, the raid stood out for its magnitude and the importance of the site, which has been labeled Georgia’s largest economic development initiative.
The event surprised many in South Korea, an important U.S. ally, especially since the nation agreed to a substantial $100 billion energy purchase from the U.S. and a $350 billion investment in exchange for reduced tariffs. Just two weeks prior, President Donald Trump and President Lee had met in Washington.
President Lee emphasized that the rights of South Korean citizens and the economic pursuits of Korean firms should not be unfairly compromised during U.S. legal actions. Additionally, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry expressed “concern and regret” about the incident and dispatched diplomats to the location.
Video released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Saturday showed a caravan of vehicles driving up to the site and then federal agents directing workers to line up outside. Some detainees were ordered to put their hands up against a bus as they were frisked and then shackled around their hands, ankles and waist.
Most of the people detained were taken to an immigration detention center in Folkston, Georgia, near the Florida state line. None has been charged with any crimes yet, Steven Schrank, the lead Georgia agent of Homeland Security Investigations, said during a news conference Friday, adding that the investigation was ongoing.
He said that some of the detained workers had illegally crossed the U.S. border, while others had entered the country legally but had expired visas or had entered on a visa waiver that prohibited them from working.
Kang, the South Korean presidential chief of staff, said that South Korea will push to review and improve visa systems for those traveling to the U.S. on business trips for investment projects.
The video in the player above is from a previous report.
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