According to the Foreign Ministry, 316 South Koreans, along with about a dozen foreign workers, are set to board a chartered flight in Atlanta and arrive at Incheon International Airport late Friday night or early Saturday morning. The ministry added that one South Korean chose to remain in the U.S.
They were workers who were swept up in the largest single-site workplace raid in U.S. history by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Folkston, Georgia about a week ago. They had been working at a construction site for an electric vehicle battery plant being jointly built by Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution.
The raid last Thursday targeted about 475 workers, including around 300 South Koreans, mostly LG Energy staff, who were allegedly working at the site without valid work permits after entering the U.S. under either the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) or short-term B1 business visas.
Having been detained at an ICE facility, they were scheduled to return earlier this week after agreeing to leave the U.S. voluntarily rather than face deportation. But their departure was suddenly delayed due to what the ministry explained were "U.S. circumstances."
Some speculate that the U.S. required them to wear handcuffs on their way to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, a common U.S. practice for those facing deportation, which sparked controversy here, while other sources say U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the suspension of their departure.
After talks with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, who is in Washington to resolve the matter, asked the U.S. to allow the South Korean detainees to return home swiftly without "physical restraints" and arranged for their departure to be rescheduled.
He added that he requested that the U.S. ensure they would not face any disadvantages with future reentry into the U.S.
The two also discussed increasing visa quotas for South Korean workers or creating new visas, along with other measures to prevent a recurrence of similar incidents, which Cho warned could cause "serious delays and disruptions" in South Korean businesses' U.S. projects involving massive investment.
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