News

South Korea seeks swift return of workers after US immigration raid

Charter flight arranged to expedite return of detained South Korean workers after a major US immigration operation.

A South Korean charter plane scheduled to return Korean workers detained in an immigration raid in Georgia last week, lands at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Wednesday, September 10, 2025, in Atlanta [Colin Hubbard/AP Photo]

Published On 10 Sep 202510 Sep 2025

Save

South Korea is working with US authorities to bring home hundreds of Korean workers detained in an immigration raid in the state of Georgia, Seoul’s foreign ministry said.

South Korean TV footage on Wednesday showed a charter plane, a Boeing 747-8i from Korean Air, taking off from Incheon International Airport, just west of Seoul.

Recommended Stories

list of 3 itemsend of list

The ministry said it was talking with US officials about letting the plane return home with the released workers as soon as possible. But it said the plane cannot depart from the US on Wednesday, as South Korea had hoped, due to an unspecified reason involving the United States authorities.

Before meeting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the White House on Wednesday, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said that he aimed to bring the workers home as quickly as possible.

A total of 475 workers, more than 300 of them South Koreans, were rounded up in the September 4 raid at the battery factory under construction at Hyundai’s sprawling car plant west of Savannah.

Some were shown being shackled with chains around their hands, ankles and waists in a video released by US authorities. Many of the detained workers are employees of subcontractors involved in the project.

The US Department of State did not mention the immigration issue in a readout of Rubio’s meeting with Cho, but it mentioned that Rubio said Washington welcomed South Korean investment and that the two discussed promoting a fair and reciprocal trade partnership.

It said they also discussed expanding “equitable defense burden sharing,” a reference to US calls for Seoul to pay more for the presence of US troops in South Korea.

Advertisement

The workplace raid by the US Homeland Security agency was its largest yet as it pursues its mass deportation agenda.

The Georgia battery plant, a joint venture between Hyundai and LG Energy Solution, is one of more than 20 major industrial sites that South Korean companies are currently building in the United States.

Representatives of Korean companies, including Hyundai Motor and LG, urged their government to negotiate with the US for a new type of visa for Korean professionals and to get clearer visa guidelines to reduce uncertainty and support their businesses in the United States, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Korean businesses have complained about strict US limits on visas for skilled foreign workers, which they say make it difficult for them to oversee the construction of factories or to train the local workforce.

Source: News Agencies