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22h ago

South Korea Sends Charter Flight to Repatriate Workers Detained in Georgia EV Battery Raid

Seoul arranged voluntary returns to prevent re-entry bans under U.S. deportation rules.

Video image released by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Agency (ICE) agents rounding up South Korean employees at a Hyundai Motor Group factory in Ellabell, Georgia, on September 4, 2025.
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The Hyundai Metaplant electric vehicle manufacturing facility in Ellabell, Georgia, , on Friday, September 5.
Protesters stage a rally against the detention of South Korean workers during an immigration raid in Georgia, near the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. The signs read "A tariff bomb and workers confinement." (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Overview

  • A Korean Air 747-8i has departed Incheon for Atlanta to bring home more than 300 South Koreans detained after the Sept. 4 raid at the Hyundai–LG battery complex, with transfers planned from ICE’s Folkston facility.
  • Foreign Minister Cho Hyun is in Washington seeking assurances on the returnees’ future U.S. entry and discussing a potential special work permit or visa quota for Korean professionals.
  • Homeland Security Investigations detained 475 people in its largest single-site operation, most of them South Koreans; LG says 47 of its employees were held, while Hyundai says none of its direct staff were arrested.
  • An attorney says many detainees are engineers or equipment installers on short-term assignments using B-1 or visa-waiver travel, while U.S. officials cite illegal entry, overstays, or unauthorized employment.
  • ICE-released footage showing shackled workers intensified public anger in South Korea, prompting scrutiny of subcontractor practices and renewed debate over U.S. visa pathways for specialized temporary labor.