US EditionHundreds of South Korean Workers Fly Home After ICE Raid at Hyundai–LG Battery Site
- On September 12, 2025, a Korean Air Boeing 747-8I transporting over 300 South Korean workers who had been detained during a U.S. immigration operation arrived at Incheon International Airport near Seoul.
- The workers were arrested on September 4 during a raid at a Hyundai-LG battery factory under construction west of Savannah, Georgia, where approximately 475 people were detained.
- After days held at a detention center in Folkston, Georgia, the workers were bused to Atlanta and boarded a charter flight following diplomatic talks and a directive from U.S. President Trump to allow voluntary returns.
- South Korea’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that 316 Korean nationals were among those freed from detention, while President Lee Jae Myung highlighted concerns that the situation may impact future U.S. investments by Korean companies and called for reforms to the American visa system.
- The episode highlights diplomatic sensitivity between close allies and may cause Korean companies to hesitate on new U.S. investments until visa issues are resolved.
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Last week, 475 workers were detained when US immigration officials raided a Hyundai factory in Georgia.
More than 300 South Korean workers detained by immigration authorities in Georgia last week came home this Friday, marking the end of a saga that has surprised the nation and threatened to alter a close bilateral friendship between the United States and South Korea. Workers arrived at Seoul International Airport from Atlanta. A small crowd was waiting for them; one of them put up a banner showing an ICE agent with a gun and a chain, and a mask w…
South Korean workers who were released after days of detention in Georgia return home
More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid in the United States last week were brought back home on a charter plane and reunited with their loved ones on Friday.
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