US Detains 475 at Georgia Plant: Seoul Races to Bring Koreans Home

South Korea’s foreign minister is traveling to Washington on Monday to negotiate the return of hundreds of Korean nationals detained in Georgia during a large-scale immigration enforcement action.

U.S. authorities last week detained 475 individuals at an auto battery plant construction site, more than 300 of them South Koreans. Officials said the workers lacked authorization to be employed in the United States. The facility is being developed by Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution and is considered one of the most significant foreign investments in Georgia.

Seoul said it was working with Washington throughout the weekend and has arranged for the detained workers to be flown home on a chartered aircraft. Details of the repatriation, including the timeline, remain under discussion.

The incident comes less than a month after South Korea pledged multi-billion-dollar investments in U.S. battery and electric vehicle production. Analysts in Seoul warn the arrests could complicate bilateral economic cooperation if not swiftly resolved.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement said those taken into custody were in the U.S. on short-term or recreational visas that did not permit employment. Officials said the operation was necessary to safeguard American jobs. Video released by ICE showed detained Asian workers in shackles, some wearing vests labeled with Hyundai and LG names.

LG confirmed that 47 of its staff and roughly 250 contract workers were among those detained. The company said several employees had entered on business-related visas or through a waiver program. LG has since suspended most business travel to the U.S. and advised staff currently stationed there to return.

South Korea’s Foreign Minister Cho Hyun briefed lawmakers before departing for Washington, saying the priority was to ensure voluntary repatriation rather than deportation. Cho acknowledged difficulties in obtaining U.S. work visas and pledged to seek a solution with American officials.

The White House defended the enforcement action, with President Donald Trump writing on Truth Social that foreign companies would be allowed to bring in “technical talent” legally but must also commit to hiring and training U.S. workers.

The Hyundai–LG factory in Ellabell, Georgia, has been promoted as the state’s largest development project, expected to employ more than 1,200 people. South Korean newspapers described the raid as “shocking” and warned it could hinder Korean business activity in the U.S.

The detained workers are being held at an ICE facility in Folkston, Georgia, as discussions continue between Seoul and Washington.