In a significant development, South Korea has announced that negotiations with the United States regarding the release of its nationals detained during a US immigration raid at a Hyundai plant in Georgia have been successfully concluded. South Korean officials confirmed that the detained workers would soon be freed and flown back home. This announcement comes after more than 300 South Korean employees were arrested at a Hyundai-LG battery construction site in the southern United States on Thursday.
Footage released by US authorities depicted a distressing scene of detained workers being handcuffed and shackled with chains around their ankles, as they were loaded onto an inmate transportation bus. This operation, conducted in the town of Ellabell, marked the largest single-site raid executed under President Donald Trump's extensive anti-immigrant initiatives, catching officials in Seoul by surprise.
In response to this unexpected situation, Kang Hoon-sik, chief of staff to South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung, stated on Sunday, “As a result of the swift and united response … negotiations for the release of the detained workers have been concluded.” He emphasized that only administrative procedures remain before a chartered flight is arranged to bring the citizens back home.
Amid the unfolding situation, a senior executive from LG Energy Solution, the electric vehicle battery manufacturer, took immediate action by flying to Georgia on Sunday morning. Kim Ki-soo, the executive, expressed the urgency of the situation, stating, “The immediate priority now is the swift release of both our LG Energy Solution employees and those of our partner firms.” Reports indicate that 47 employees of LG Energy Solution were among those arrested, comprising 46 South Koreans and one Indonesian. Furthermore, it is believed that around 250 of the detained individuals were employed by contractors, primarily South Koreans.
This incident underscores the ongoing tensions surrounding immigration policies and their impact on foreign workers in the United States, particularly in the context of significant foreign investments in the US, such as the Hyundai-LG battery plant.
