South Korea convened an emergency meeting Saturday after U.S. immigration agents arrested hundreds of its citizens in a sweeping raid at a Hyundai-LG battery plant in Georgia, reported by BBC News.
U.S. authorities said 475 workers—many of them South Korean—were detained for allegedly working without authorization at the sprawling facility, one of the largest foreign investments in the state. Video released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) showed Asian workers shackled outside the plant, some wearing vests marked “Hyundai” and “LG CNS.”
“They were illegal aliens and ICE was just doing its job,” President Donald Trump said, defending the operation amid concerns it could rattle foreign investors. Homeland Security officials said the raid was aimed at protecting American jobs and holding companies accountable for visa abuses.
But in Seoul, the move reverberated like a diplomatic shockwave. Foreign Minister Cho Hyun presided over an emergency session, pledging to safeguard the rights of detained nationals. He announced the creation of an Overseas Korean Protection Task Force and suggested he may travel to Washington if tensions escalate. “Law enforcement actions must not unjustly infringe upon the rights of our nationals or our companies,” he said.
LG Energy Solution, which co-runs the Georgia plant with Hyundai, confirmed that 47 of its employees and about 250 contractor staff were among those detained. The company dispatched its human resources chief to Georgia, suspended most U.S. business travel, and ordered Korean employees currently on assignment to return home. It also established an emergency network to ensure detainees receive essential medication.
The raid lands awkwardly as Seoul and Washington navigate sensitive trade talks and as South Korea invests billions into U.S. manufacturing to blunt tariffs and deepen economic ties. South Korean media called the arrests a “shock,” warning of a chilling effect on future projects.
Georgia’s governor had hailed the factory as the state’s largest economic development project, employing more than 1,200 workers in the fast-growing electric vehicle sector. Now, hundreds of those workers remain held at an ICE detention center in Folkston, Georgia, awaiting transfer.
For Seoul, the question looms: will its citizens’ detention remain an immigration matter—or grow into a diplomatic rift with its closest ally?
