Muñoz compared the incident to news coverage scenarios, saying, “It’s like a story breaking at Fox News, and someone asks, ‘How did you not know?’ and I respond, ‘I’m with CNN,’ you see? Similar situation.”

He noted the media’s incorrect depiction of the raid’s location, with images featuring Hyundai’s Metaplant rather than the nearby LG factory. “The photos shown are of a different location than where the raid took place,” he explained.

These remarks come after he confirmed a two- to three-month delay in the plant’s construction due to labor shortages. This follows the September 4th raid arresting 475 workers, mainly South Koreans, at the joint Hyundai and LG Energy Solutions battery plant.

In response to the raid, President Donald Trump aimed to ease tensions with South Korea by permitting foreign companies to temporarily bring in specialists to train American workers. However, critics claim the raid may have already negatively impacted foreign businesses, fearing their employees might be caught in Trump’s immigration policies.

The Hyundai-LG raid was atypical, targeting a common practice where foreign automakers bring their staff to aid in US facility construction and later train American workers. Labor experts caution that the ICE raid could deter foreign investment in the US, particularly affecting industries like automakers developing electric vehicles.

Muñoz defended the foreign workers who were in Georgia to help build the factory, arguing that the expertise to build these specialized factories doesn’t exist in the US. And he called for the creation of a new type of visa for highly skilled workers who help develop these enormous projects, to ensure future raids don’t happen.

“I think the US government has acknowledged that there needs to be a better solution to address this type of situation,” he said. “I think both governments in South Korea and the US are working actively to try to ensure that situations like this don’t happen again.”