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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Flight repatriating South Koreans detained by US immigration
authorities departs Atlanta Thursday
By Karina Tsui, Mike Valerio, Yoonjung Seo, Jennifer Hansler, Jason
Morris, CNN
Updated:
1:31 PM EDT, Thu September 11, 2025
Source: CNN
A flight carrying hundreds of South Korean workers who were detained by
US immigration authorities in Georgia last week departed late Thursday
morning, according to CNN Correspondent Gustavo Valdes, who witnessed
the plane take off at Hartsfield-Jackson International airport in
Atlanta.
The Korean Air charter plane is scheduled to arrive at Korea’s
Incheon International Airport on Friday afternoon.
The South Korean citizens “won’t be wearing handcuffs or other
physical restraints,” a Korean government official familiar with the
matter told CNN on Wednesday.
On Thursday, South Korea’s foreign ministry said had temporarily
paused the deportation process to discuss the workers’ potential
future in the US.
“President Trump temporarily paused the procedure in order to listen
to our position on whether it would be possible for our nationals,
who’re all skilled workers, to continue working in the US,” the
foreign ministry said in a statement.
“The South Korean side made it clear that under no circumstances
should there be delays in their departure and return, and that swift
and safe movement of our nationals should be ensured,” it said.
The workers were taken into custody last Thursday during a sweeping ICE
operation at a battery plant under construction in Ellabell,
approximately 25 miles west of Savannah. The plant is a joint venture
between Hyundai and LG Energy Solution, two giants of South Korean
industry that have made major investments in the US.
Dozens of workers from other countries who were also detained in the
raid remain in ICE detention as their asylum claims process plays out.
While the South Korean workers are on their way home, the impact of the
detentions on US-South Korean relations – notably the countries’
deep economic ties – will likely reverberate well into the future,
experts say.
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, who met with US Secretary of
State Marco Rubio on Wednesday, also requested support from the US to
ensure the South Korean citizens could quickly depart the US and
“receive no disadvantages for future visits to the US, since they are
not criminals,” according to a statement from the ministry.
News of the detentions – including images of workers being lined up
and restrained with long chains – has sparked widespread frustration
and outcry across the political spectrum in South Korea, a staunch and
longstanding US ally that earlier this year pledged to invest hundreds
of billions of dollars into the American economy.
“It’s really no way to treat your friends,” Cho Hee-kyoung, a law
professor at Seoul’s Hongik University, told CNN, calling the Trump
administration’s a “surprise.”
South Korea’s government announced Sunday that an agreement had been
reached with US officials to release the Korean workers, but the
details were still being finalized.
The State Department’s readout of the meeting between Rubio and Cho
did not mention last week’s detention of Hyundai workers but did
state, “The Secretary said the United States welcomes ROK investment
into the United States and stated his interest in deepening cooperation
on this front.”
The workers were taken into custody last Thursday during a sweeping ICE
operation at a battery plant under construction in Ellabell,
approximately 25 miles west of Savannah. The plant is a joint venture
between Hyundai and LG Energy Solution, two giants of South Korean
industry that have made major investments in the US.
Outcry from an ally
South Korea has long been one of the United States’ closest allies
and is its sixth-largest trading partner. Many fear the detentions of
hundreds of workers from the country could on any business thinking of
striking a deal on US soil.
Since the ICE raid on September 4, Seoul –– which has a deeply
ingrained protest culture –– has not seen any large-scale
demonstrations against the US. Small protests have been seen, but any
outcry has largely played out elsewhere.
Newspaper opinion columns and social feeds have reached similar
conclusions: True partnership between the two countries means not
putting Koreans sent to the US in chains –– people sent across the
ocean to help the US thrive.
The conservative paper Chosun Ilbo reported growing calls from the
South Korean business community for the government to “formally sit
down at the negotiating table with the US and secure visa quotas for
Korean skilled workers, ensuring treatment that matches the scale of
our investments there.”
The more middle-of-the-road paper Hankook Ilbo warned of the “Trump
risk” Korean investors face, even after the announcement of a deal to
free the detained workers
In a column titled “Is this any way for the US to treat an ally?”
from the left-leaning outlet Hankyoreh, editors of the paper condemned
the Trump administration for with Seoul.
“The US’ double-dealing behavior of demanding massive infusions of
capital from Korea, only to use immigration raids to intimidate the
companies making these investments, is extremely regrettable,” the
paper noted.
“It was like ‘a slap in the face’ moment,” Choi Jong Kun, South
Korea’s former First Vice Foreign Minister, told CNN.
“Those plants didn’t have to be built there. They were built
because the US wanted them,” he added. “And yet to say Korean
workers must be replaced with American workers for facility
construction – I see that as completely out of touch with reality.”
Choi emphasized the temporary nature of South Koreans’ work to set up
factories in the US: “They have no intention to stay.”
Questions about visa status
It has been common practice for South Korean nationals to perform this
type of work at US plants and factories, but the battery plant raid
seems to reflect a different enforcement of visa rules, said Cho, the
law professor.
Cho said South Korean workers have long worked under visa arrangements
similar to those detained in Georgia and pointed to the ongoing problem
of the US approving too few business visas.
“Although it wasn’t strictly in compliance with the rules and
regulations, everybody basically had turned a blind eye to it because
of the shortage of H1 visas,” Cho said, referring to longer-term US
business visas.
Lawyers for some of the detained workers insist their clients were
legally working on the Georgia site.
Immigration attorney Charles Kuck told CNN that two detained workers
he’s representing were authorized to work under a visa waiver. One
arrived in the US near the end of August, and the other arrived several
weeks ago, Kuck said, noting both are engineers who came to the US
“to advise briefly on the work” being done at the site.
Kuck said his clients “had a specific time they were going to be here
and leave, for a specific task that they were assigned to do here as
part of their company’s contract with Hyundai.”
Some US lawmakers have recently pushed to address the lack of visas for
South Korean workers. A bill called the was introduced in the House in
July by California Rep. Young Kim, a Republican.
The bill would carve out “15,000 E-4 highly skilled work visas for
Korean nationals with specialized education or expertise, provided that
potential employers ensure the visa holders are not hired for positions
that American workers could fill,” according to a statement about the
bill from Kim’s office.
The bill since being referred to the Judiciary Committee after it was
introduced.
Pending business
South Korea still has major unfinished business with Washington. In
July, announced a that includes $350 billion in investments in the US
by South Korea, but the details are still being worked out.
The aim of the agreement, CNN Senior Business Writer Allison Morrow
wrote in a Tuesday analysis, is largely to create more jobs for
Americans –– .
“Companies often want to – or even need to – bring in their own
workers to set up shop, install proprietary equipment, and train the
less-skilled hourly employees who’ll be running things day to day,”
Morrow wrote.
Chang Sang-sik, head of research at the Korea International Trade
Association, told the Financial Times that the US government
“It is asking Korea to invest more in the US, while treating Korean
workers like criminals even when it is well aware that they are needed
for these projects to happen,” Chang said.
On Tuesday, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called the detention
of workers in Georgia “unjust infringements on the activities of our
people and businesses” and said he hopes such practices “will not
happen again.”
But reacting with indignation has not been an option for Lee. Instead,
his administration has stressed efforts to rapidly diffuse the
situation.
South Korean officials are acutely aware of the US defense presence
within the South’s borders. Approximately 28,500 American troops are
stationed across South Korea, a protective force against neighboring
nuclear-armed North Korea.
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