South Korean workers arrested in US raid being released, Seoul says

President Lee Jae-myung warns raids could spot South Korean companies ‘hesitate’ to marque bigger investments successful the US.

Hundreds of South Koreans arrested successful a immense migration raid successful the United States are being released to statesman the travel home, Seoul said, aft informing the “bewildering” occurrence whitethorn person a antagonistic effect connected aboriginal investment.

South Korea’s President Lee Jae-myung said connected Thursday that Korean companies volition apt hesitate to marque further investments successful the US unless Washington improves its visa strategy for their employees.

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This comes aft a September 4 migration raid resulted successful the apprehension of South Korean workers astatine a artillery mill nether operation astatine Hyundai’s sprawling car works westbound of Savannah.

“When you physique a installation oregon instal instrumentality astatine a plant, you request technicians, but the United States doesn’t person that workforce and yet they won’t contented visas to fto our radical enactment and bash the work,” Lee said during a quality league connected Thursday marking his 100th time successful office.

South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said connected Thursday that US authorities person released the 330 detainees – 316 of them Koreans – and they were being transported by buses to Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport, wherever they volition committee a charter formation scheduled to get successful South Korea connected Friday.

The radical besides includes 10 Chinese, 3 Japanese and 1 Indonesian national.

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung [File: Kim Min-Hee AFP]

During Lee’s quality conference, helium said South Korean officials were successful discussions with their US counterparts implicit ways to amended the existent system, but added that South Korean companies “can’t assistance hesitating a lot” astir making bigger investments if the workers they request are apt to beryllium arrested by migration authorities.

“If that’s not possible, past establishing a section installation successful the United States volition either travel with terrible disadvantages oregon go precise hard for our companies. They volition wonderment whether they should adjacent bash it,” Lee added.

‘Cultural differences’

On September 4, the South Korean nationals and different workers were arrested for alleged visa violations astatine the still-under-construction Hyundai works successful Georgia by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. A spokesperson for ICE said the raid was portion of a months-long probe into labour practices astatine the site.

Authorities shared the published footage of the workers with chains astir their waists and hands, which was wide covered by the South Korean media and scandalised the public.

At the time, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said “business activities of our investors and the rights of our nationals indispensable not beryllium unjustly infringed successful the process of US instrumentality enforcement.”

The raids came conscionable 2 weeks aft US President Donald Trump reached a breakthrough statement that spared the Asian electronics exports elephantine steep tariffs for its products entering the US. As portion of the deal, Trump said South Korea had committed to sinking $350bn successful investments successful the US economy, which Trump added connected his Truth Social level would beryllium “owned and controlled by the United States, and selected by myself”.

The 2 countries had a full commercialized measurement of $239.6bn successful 2024, according to US commercialized data.

The formation backmost to South Korea for the workers was reportedly meant to spell up connected Wednesday, but was stopped by Trump, according to the Financial Times, which reported that Trump wanted the workers to stay to bid Americans.

South Korean officials said connected Thursday that Trump offered to let the workers to enactment successful the US, but lone 1 has opted to remain. TV footage showed the workers boarding buses extracurricular the barbed-wire clad fences of a detention centre successful the aboriginal hours of Thursday to spell to Atlanta airport.

Trump had distanced himself from the migration hawks successful his party, saying overseas companies were invited to “LEGALLY bring your precise astute people, with large method talent”. In a station connected Truth Social, helium added: “But we bash person to enactment thing retired wherever we bring successful experts truthful that our radical tin beryllium trained truthful that they tin bash it themselves.”

South Korea’s Lee called the US raid “bewildering”. He blamed it connected “cultural differences”, saying astatine the quality league that successful South Korea, US nationals teaching English portion connected a tourer visa were not seen arsenic “a superior issue”.

“But the United States intelligibly doesn’t spot things that way,” helium added.

After the arrests, South Korean companies “can’t assistance but question whether mounting up a works successful the US is worthy the imaginable risks”, Lee said.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies