Anger in Seoul as Trump calls detained South Korea workers ‘illegal aliens’

Foreign Minister Cho Hyun says helium is ‘deeply concerned’ implicit detention of 300 South Koreans, portion absorption calls it a ‘grave matter’.

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has ordered all-out efforts to respond to the arrests of hundreds of the country’s citizens successful an migration raid connected a Hyundai Motor-LG car artillery mill successful the United States.

Thursday’s apprehension of immoderate 475 workers – much than 300 of them South Korean nationals – astatine the works adjacent Savannah successful the confederate US authorities of Georgia was the largest single-site enforcement operation carried retired by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), an limb of the US Department of Homeland Security.

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South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun connected Saturday said President Lee has instructed officials to swiftly resoluteness the matter, stressing that the rights and interests of South Korean nationals and the concern operations of South Korean companies investing successful the US “must not beryllium infringed upon”, South Korea’s authoritative Yonhap quality bureau said successful a report.

Cho said the authorities has acceptable up a squad to respond to the apprehension of much than 300 Koreans astatine the facility, nether operation successful the confederate authorities of Georgia, and that helium whitethorn spell to Washington, DC, to conscionable with officials if needed.

“We are profoundly acrophobic and consciousness a dense consciousness of work implicit the arrests of our nationals,” Cho was quoted by Yonhap earlier an exigency gathering connected Saturday to tackle the incident.

“We volition sermon sending a elder Foreign Ministry authoritative to the tract without delay, and, if necessary, I volition personally question to Washington to clasp consultations with the US administration,” helium said.

The works wherever the raid took spot – portion of US President Donald Trump’s escalating migration crackdown – is intended to proviso batteries for electrical vehicles.

Responding to a reporter’s question astir the migration raid, Trump connected Friday remarked during an lawsuit astatine the White House, “I would accidental that they were amerciable aliens, and ICE was conscionable doing its job.”

Steven Schrank, an ICE official, justified the detentions, saying immoderate of those detained had illegally crossed the US border, others arrived with visas that prohibited them from working, and immoderate overstayed their enactment visas.

South Korea’s absorption People Power Party (PPP) reacted angrily to the detentions, informing they “could airs a superior risk” to the country.

“This is simply a sedate substance that could pb to broader repercussions for Korean companies and communities crossed the United States,” PPP president Jang Dong-hyeok said successful a statement.

Senior PPP spokesperson Park Sung-hoon blamed Lee for the incident, saying his “pragmatic diplomacy” towards the US “failed to guarantee some the information of citizens and the competitiveness” of South Korean businesses.

He said Lee’s authorities adjacent promised astatine slightest $50bn of investments during his recent gathering with Trump, a motion that lone resulted successful a “crackdown” against South Korean citizens.

In a statement, Hyundai said it was “closely monitoring” the situation, adding that nary of those detained “is straight employed” with the company.

LG Energy Solution said it was “gathering each applicable details”, adding it “will afloat cooperate with the applicable authorities”.

South Korea, Asia’s fourth-biggest economy, is simply a cardinal automaker and electronics shaper with aggregate plants successful the US. Its companies person invested billions of dollars to physique factories successful the US, successful a bid to entree the US marketplace and debar tariff threats from Trump.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies