By Ju-min Park and Hyunjoo Jin
SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun will head to the U.S. on Monday as he seeks to resolve the fallout over the detention of hundreds of Korean workers during an immigration raid at a time when Seoul has committed to massive investment plans in America.
Seoul said on Sunday that negotiations to arrange the release of about 300 Korean workers arrested at a Georgia battery plant being built by Hyundai Motor and LG Energy Solution had concluded and a plan is in the works to fly them home this week.
The detention of the workers by the Department of Homeland Security agents sent shockwaves through South Korea, a major U.S. ally which has been trying to finalise a U.S. trade deal agreed in late July. It came just 10 days after South Korea’s new president, Lee Jae Myung, met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington and the two pledged closer business ties.
Cho’s talks will centre on bringing the Korean workers, who were mostly employed by subcontractors, home via a chartered plane in what would be called a “voluntary departure”, according to a South Korean foreign ministry official who declined to give further details.
Trump, who has ramped up deportations nationwide as his administration cracks down on illegal immigrants, said last week he had not been aware of the raid. He called those detained “illegal aliens”.
On Sunday, he called on foreign companies investing in the U.S. to “respect our Nation’s immigration laws” but sounded more conciliatory.
“Your Investments are welcome, and we encourage you to LEGALLY bring your very smart people, with great technical talent, to build World Class products, and we will make it quickly and legally possible for you to do so,” he said on Truth Social.
The 300 South Koreans were among 475 arrested on Thursday at the site of a $4.3 billion project by Hyundai and battery maker LGES to build batteries for electric cars. It was the largest single-site enforcement operation in the history of the Department of Homeland Security’s investigative operations.
Seoul has expressed its unhappiness about the arrests and the public release of the footage showing the operation which involved armoured vehicles and the shackling of workers.
Hyundai Motor is one of the biggest foreign investors in the United States and is among South Korean companies participating in the country’s pledge of a $350 billion fund for the U.S. market.
A Hyundai Motor spokesperson said some staff had been asked to suspend non-essential trips to the United States.
LGES has also suspended staff business trips to the U.S., other than certain exceptional cases, and will be recalling South Korea-based employees now in the country.
(Reporting by Ju-min Park, Hyunjoo Jin and Heejin Kim in Seoul and Jeff Mason and Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington; Writing by Jack Kim; Editing by Ed Davies and Edwina Gibbs)
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