South Korea Secures Release of Detained Workers After Georgia Immigration Raid
South Korea Secures Release of Detained Workers After Georgia Immigration Raid
South Korea has announced a deal with the U.S. administration to secure the release of hundreds of its citizens detained last week in a major immigration raid at a Hyundai and LG Energy Solution plant in Georgia. South Korean presidential chief of staff, Kang Hoon-sik, stated Sunday that negotiations are being finalized, with the workers expected to return home on a chartered flight as early as this week.
The arrests of 475 individuals, over 300 of whom were South Korean citizens working for LG and its subcontractors, occurred last Thursday at the factory site in Ellabell, Ga. This crackdown follows significant investment pledges from South Korean companies in the U.S. as part of a trade deal reached earlier this year between President Trump and his South Korean counterpart Lee Jae Myung, which included a $350 billion investment in U.S. industries.
The raid, described by the U.S. attorney’s office as the largest single-site operation in Department of Homeland Security history, has sparked indignation in Seoul. Ruling party lawmaker Oh Gi-hyoung emphasized that South Koreans, as major U.S. allies and investors, deserve respect. The U.S. is the largest recipient of South Korea’s overseas investments, and the two nations exchanged over $242.5 billion in goods and services last year.
U.S. authorities stated the operation, part of ‘Operation Take Back America,’ targeted individuals working illegally, many on short-term or recreational visas. While these visas do not permit work, experts like Hwang In-song of the Korea Electronics Technology Institute noted that this practice has long been tolerated by U.S. authorities due to the difficulty South Korean companies face in obtaining work visas like the H-1B for their specialized staff. The arrests are expected to cause costly delays for ongoing and future South Korean projects in the U.S., prompting officials to seek improvements to U.S. work permits for its citizens.
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