South Korea says over 300 citizens detained in US immigration raid to be released and flown home

SEOUL SAID THAT negotiations with the United States to secure the release of South Korean workers detained in a raid by US immigration officials have been “concluded” and they would soon be freed and flown home.

It follows the arrest of more than 300 South Korean workers at a Hyundai-LG battery plant being built in the southern state of Georgia on Thursday.

The operation, carried out in the town of Ellabell, was the largest single site raid implemented so far under US President Donald Trump’s nationwide anti-migrant drive, catching Seoul officials off guard.

“As a result of the swift and united response… negotiations for the release of the detained workers have been concluded,” Kang Hoon-sik, chief of staff to President Lee Jae Myung, said on Sunday.

“Only administrative procedures remain. Once these are completed, a chartered flight will depart to bring our citizens home,” he added.

Advertisement

Footage of the raid released by US authorities showed detained workers, in handcuffs and with chains around their ankles, being loaded onto an inmate transportation bus.

Scrambling to contain the fallout, a senior executive at electric vehicle battery maker LG Energy Solution flew to Georgia on Sunday morning.

“The immediate priority now is the swift release of both our LG Energy Solution employees and those of our partner firms,” executive Kim Ki-soo told reporters before boarding a plane.

LG Energy Solution has said 47 of its employees had been arrested – 46 South Koreans and one Indonesian.

The company has also said about 250 of those arrested were believed to be employed by its contractor, and most of them were South Koreans.

- © AFP 2025