330 Workers Released after U.S. ICE Detention

About 330 workers detained at the construction site of the Hyundai Motor-LG Energy Solution joint battery plant (HL-GA) by U.S. immigration authorities were released around 2 a.m. on Sept. 11, local time. They had been held at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Folkston, Georgia, since Sept. 4.

Among those released were 317 South Koreans, 10 Chinese, three Japanese, and one Indonesian. One South Korean with a family member holding U.S. permanent residency decided to stay in the United States, while the remaining 330 were transported to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to board flights to South Korea. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they are expected to arrive at Incheon International Airport in the afternoon of Sept. 12.

South Korean and U.S. authorities have agreed that the workers will face no penalties when re-entering the United States in the future. At a meeting at the White House in Washington on the morning of Sept. 11 with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun confirmed, “We received assurances that the returning South Koreans will not face disadvantages upon re-entry into the United States.” Cho added that he met with Andrew Baker, deputy assistant to the U.S. National Security Council, to reconfirm the agreement reached with Secretary Rubio.

Cho also said at a press briefing at the Korean Embassy in Washington, D.C. that a working group will be established between the U.S. State Department and the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs to quickly negotiate a new type of visa tailored to South Korean companies’ investments in the United States. The working group is intended to prevent incidents like this from recurring.

“The highest-ranking U.S. official who promised that our citizens will face no disadvantages upon re-entry is Secretary Rubio,” a ministry official said. “We expect that this promise will be honored.”


Jin-Woo Shin niceshin@donga.com