A chartered plane is set to repatriate South Korean workers detained during a large immigration raid at a Hyundai battery plant in the US state of Georgia, South Korean and international news agencies reported. The flight was scheduled to depart the United States at about 14:30 local time (18:30 GMT) on Wednesday and to return to South Korea on Thursday.
The raid last week resulted in 475 people being detained, more than 300 of whom were South Korean nationals, according to US officials. Workers at the plant told the BBC that most of those detained were mechanics installing production lines and were employed by a contractor, not directly by Hyundai.
South Korean television showed a charter plane leaving Incheon International Airport on Wednesday morning that was expected to travel to the United States to bring the detained workers home. The BBC has contacted South Korea's foreign ministry for comment.
The incident has prompted diplomatic engagement. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was due to meet South Korea's foreign minister Cho Hyun at the White House on Wednesday morning, and Cho said before leaving for Washington that he would work with the US to prevent a repeat of the raid. South Korea, a close US ally in Asia, has pledged tens of billions of dollars in investment in the United States, partly in response to trade tensions and tariffs.
The White House defended the enforcement action at the Hyundai facility, saying the operation was lawful and necessary. On social media on Sunday, President Donald Trump referenced the raid and called on foreign companies to hire Americans. The president said the US government would make it "quickly and legally possible" for foreign firms to bring workers into the country if they comply with immigration laws.
Workers who experienced the sweep described panic and confusion during the enforcement action. Those accounts and the scale of the detentions have raised concern in Seoul about the timing of the operation, which comes as officials from the two countries engage in sensitive trade and investment discussions.
US immigration authorities said the operation targeted individuals they identified as working illegally at one of the largest foreign investment projects in Georgia. South Korean officials have said they will press US counterparts for details about the detentions and for assurances that South Korean investors and workers will be treated fairly while in the United States.
The episode underscores the complexities facing multinational manufacturing projects that rely on specialized foreign labor. Hyundai and its contractors have not publicly detailed the employment arrangements of the detained workers. Diplomatic contacts and the scheduled charter flight were expected to ease immediate tensions, but the incident is likely to remain a subject of scrutiny as both governments monitor the fallout and seek to prevent similar disruptions in the future.