SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The South Korean government announced on Sunday that over 300 South Korean workers, who were detained after a large-scale immigration raid at a Hyundai facility in Georgia, will be released and returned to South Korea.
Kang Hoon-sik, the chief of staff for President Lee Jae Myung, stated that South Korea and the U.S. have finalized agreements for the workers’ release. He mentioned that a charter plane would be dispatched to bring the workers back once the remaining administrative processes are completed.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry indicated that discussions between Seoul and Washington are ongoing to facilitate the voluntary return of all detained workers. Foreign Minister Cho Hyun is scheduled to travel to the U.S. on Monday afternoon for discussions regarding the workers’ release.
American immigration officials reported on Friday that 475 individuals, primarily South Korean nationals, were detained as hundreds of federal agents conducted a raid at Hyundai’s vast manufacturing site in Georgia. The focus was on a plant still under construction, where Hyundai collaborates with LG Energy Solution to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles.
Cho said that more than 300 South Koreans were among the detained.
This operation is one in a series of workplace raids under the Trump administration’s mass deportation policy. However, the raid on Thursday was notable for its size and target, as the site has been recognized as Georgia’s largest economic development project.
The raid came as a shock to many in South Korea, a significant ally of the U.S., especially after a recent agreement to purchase $100 billion in U.S. energy and invest $350 billion in the U.S., leading to lower tariff rates. This development occurred just weeks after a meeting in Washington between U.S. President Donald Trump and President Lee.
Trump said perhaps the U.S. could work out an arrangement with South Korean workers who would train U.S. citizens to do work such as battery and computer manufacturing.
“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,” Trump said Sunday night at Andrews Air Force Base. He added that “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 said the rights of South Korean nationals and economic activities of South Korean companies must not be unfairly infringed upon during U.S. law enforcement procedures. South Korea’s Foreign Ministry separately issued a statement to express “concern and regret” over the case and sent diplomats to the site.
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.
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Associated Press writers Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul and Seung Min Kim in Washington contributed to this report.
