South Korea is preparing to repatriate nearly 300 of its citizens who were detained last week in Georgia, USA, during a massive raid conducted by immigration authorities at a battery factory owned by Hyundai. This operation, which resulted in the arrest of around 475 individuals, most of whom are South Korean, is the largest of its kind at a single site in the history of U.S. immigration raids.
On Sunday, Seoul announced the completion of negotiations with Washington, confirming the arrangement of a special flight to bring back its workers. The presidential office expressed regret, condemning what it described as the “harshness” of the scenes broadcast by the media, which showed chains and armored vehicles escorting hundreds of workers, causing significant shock among the Korean public.
In response, President Donald Trump’s administration defended its stringent measures. Tom Homan, the head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, stated that workplace raids will expand, while Trump urged foreign companies to “respect immigration laws,” emphasizing that the incident would not affect relations between the United States and South Korea.
This issue comes at a sensitive time, just ten days after a bilateral summit aimed at enhancing economic cooperation between the two countries. The battery factory, valued at $4.3 billion and developed by Hyundai in partnership with LG Energy Solution, represents one of South Korea’s largest investments in the United States. LG has decided to suspend its employees’ travel to America until further notice.
In Seoul, Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hun-sik announced a review of the visa system “to prevent a recurrence of such incidents.” However, the crisis reveals a profound contradiction between two conflicting priorities: the openness of the American market to foreign investments and the strict immigration policy adopted by Trump.
