South Korea’s foreign minister will travel to the United States on Monday to help secure the return of hundreds of Koreans who were detained in Georgia last week.
US officials detained 475 people – more than 300 of them South Korean nationals – who they said were illegally working at a car battery plant.
The facility is being built by two South Korean companies – Hyundai and LG – and is one of the largest foreign investment projects in the state.
Such raids have ramped up under President Donald Trump who has vowed to crack down hard on unauthorised immigration. But Friday’s raid could become a source of tension with a key ally, South Korea, which has also promised to invest in the US.
South Korea expressed “concern and regret” over the operation and urged the US government to respect the rights of its citizens.
The government has been working all weekend to secure the workers release. Last night it reached a deal with the US to bring them home on a chartered flight. But the exact details of how and when the workers will be returned still need to be finalised.
The raid took place just two weeks after Seoul agreed to invest billions of dollars in the US to help it produce the likes of car batteries.
And it has now raised questions over how foreign companies can move their manufacturing to the states – like President Trump wants – if they’re not able to bring in the specialists required.
The White House, however, defended the operation and dismissed concerns that it could discourage foreign investment.
In a post on Truth Social on Sunday, Trump said the US would make it easy for foreign companies to legally bring their “great technical talent, to build World Class products” but, asked that in return, these companies “hire and train American Workers”.
Before he left for the US, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun briefed the South Korean parliament’s foreign affairs committee. He said he was aware of how difficult and competitive it was to receive a visa to work in the US, and said he was trying to find a solution swiftly.
Hyun is trying to ensure the detained workers will be returned voluntarily rather than deported.
The arrested workers are being held at an ICE facility in Folkston, Georgia.
Video released by ICE officials following the raid showed Asian workers shackled in front of a building, with some wearing yellow vests with names such as “Hyundai” and “LG CNS”.
“People on short-term or recreational visas are not authorized to work in the US,” ICE said, adding that the raid was necessary to protect American jobs.
LG Energy Solution, which operates the plant with Hyundai, says many of the LG employees arrested were on business trips with various visas or under a visa waiver programme.
It said 47 of its employees and about 250 workers for contractors at the joint venture factory were detained.
The company has said it is suspending most business trips to the US and directing employees on assignment in the US to return home immediately.
South Korean media widely described the raid as a “shock,” with the Dong-A Ilbo newspaper warning it could have “a chilling effect on the activities of our businesses in the United States”.
The factory, which makes new electric vehicles, had been touted by Georgia’s Republican governor as the biggest economic development project in the state’s history, employing 1,200 people.
By BBC News
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