South Korea dispatched a chartered Korean Air Boeing 747-8i to the United States on Wednesday to bring home hundreds of Korean workers who were detained in a mass immigration raid at a Georgia battery plant earlier this month, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said.
U.S. immigration authorities rounded up 475 workers on Sept. 4 at the construction site for a battery plant in southeast Georgia, a joint venture between Hyundai and LG Energy Solution. More than 300 of those detained were South Korean nationals, and video released by U.S. authorities showing some detainees shackled at the hands, ankles and waist provoked widespread shock and anger in South Korea.
South Korean officials said they had reached an agreement with U.S. counterparts for the workers’ release and were negotiating terms for their return. The Foreign Ministry said the charter could not depart from the United States on Wednesday as Seoul had hoped, citing unspecified reasons on the U.S. side. The detained workers are being held at an immigration detention center in Folkston, Georgia, and South Korean media reported they would be transported to Atlanta to board the flight home.
Seoul has been pressing for "voluntary" departures rather than formal deportations, officials said, because deportations could trigger re-entry bans of up to 10 years that would bar skilled workers from returning to the United States. South Korean officials and business leaders are also discussing potential legislation to create a separate visa quota for South Korean professionals working on U.S. projects, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun told company representatives at meetings in Washington.
The raid was carried out by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and has been described by U.S. officials as the agency’s largest workplace enforcement action to date as part of a broader immigration enforcement campaign. U.S. officials said some detainees had crossed the border illegally, while others had overstayed visas or entered on visa waivers that prohibit employment.
South Korean companies operating in the United States have long used short-term visitor visas or the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) to send technicians and specialists needed to install and commission complex manufacturing equipment. LG Energy Solution instructed its South Korean employees in the U.S. on B-1 and B-2 visas not to report to work until further notice and told those traveling under ESTA to return home immediately.
Atlanta immigration attorney Charles Kuck, who represents four of the detained South Korean nationals, told The Associated Press that critical machinery at the Georgia plant was not made in the United States and that the expertise to install or repair it does not exist domestically. He said training to produce such specialists in the U.S. would take about three to five years.
The detentions have created diplomatic strain between two close allies. South Koreans expressed anger and dismay after video emerged showing detainees shackled. The raid came shortly after a summit in Washington between South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump on Aug. 25, and after Seoul had pledged substantial investments in the United States as part of trade talks.
President Lee, speaking at a Cabinet Council meeting, said he felt "big responsibility" over the episode and vowed to work closely with U.S. officials to prevent similar incidents from occurring. Experts contacted by South Korean media said Seoul was unlikely to take major retaliatory measures but that the episode could become a source of recurring tension if U.S. immigration enforcement continues to intensify.
President Trump said this week that the workers "were here illegally" and argued that U.S. officials should work with other countries to have their experts train American workers to perform specialized manufacturing tasks. South Korean officials counter that Washington has not yet instituted a visa system that accommodates the short-term deployment of skilled Korean personnel necessary to build and launch advanced industrial facilities.
Foreign Minister Cho met representatives of Hyundai, LG and Samsung in Washington and said Seoul continues active discussions with U.S. officials and lawmakers about visa reforms and other measures to protect the mobility of skilled workers linked to major Korean investments in the United States. The Georgia plant is one of more than 20 major industrial projects South Korean companies are building across the United States.
As negotiations continue over the terms of release and return, families of the detained workers and officials in Seoul are monitoring developments closely. South Korean authorities have said they are seeking to secure the workers’ return without triggering bans that would complicate future cooperation and discouraged the use of formal deportations where possible.
The incident has reignited debate in South Korea over the risks faced by nationals working abroad under temporary travel arrangements and the adequacy of existing visa categories to support the specialized labor needs of cross-border industrial projects. South Korean officials said they will press the United States to improve visa pathways for engineers and technical specialists while continuing diplomatic engagement to resolve the immediate situation.