(Seoul) Several hundred employees in a Hyundai-LG battery factory, arrested after an American immigration services raid, were “in progress” on Thursday of Liberation, said Seoul, who warned that this episode was “destabilizing” and could have an impact on future investments.
Some 475 people, including a majority of South Koreans, had been arrested on September 4 by the American immigration and customs service (ICE) on the construction site of a Hyundai-LG batteries factory in the state of Georgia (southeast).
Around 3 a.m. (east time), a representative of the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed via a press release sent to AFP that the “process (liberation) was underway”.
Photos taken by the South Korean agency Yonhap show employees gathering around bus, some smiling and giving your hand after spending several days in detention in the United States.
Photo -, agency France -Presse
South Korean nationals were repatriated aboard this Korean Air Boeing 747.
South Korea dispatched a Korean Air Boeing 747-8i in the United States on Wednesday to repatriate qualified technicians.
Speaking at a press conference Thursday, the South Korean president awarded the arrest operation to “cultural differences”, explaining that in South Korea, where similar minor offenses affecting American nationals are not considered “a serious problem”.
“Significant impact”
Lee said that this case may have a “significant impact on future investment decisions, in particular when assessing the feasibility of direct operations in the United States”.
He explained that for South Korean companies, qualified technicians were “essential”, during the installation of infrastructure, equipment and factories.
Photo Matthew Hatcher, Archives Agency France-Presse
The President of South Korea, Lee Jae Myung
“Someone has to install the machines, and the necessary workforce simply does not exist locally in the United States,” he said.
US President Donald Trump finally gave up on Thursday to expel these professionals, but Seoul decided to repatriate them because they are “in shock,” said Cho Hyun, the South Korean Foreign Minister.
“President Trump asked if the South Korean workers detained, all qualified professionals, should stay in the United States to continue working and training US staff, or if they were to return home,” the South Korean foreign ministry detailed in a statement to AFP.
But Seoul replied that “given the state of shock and the exhaustion of workers, it would be preferable that they return to their home first, then that they return to the United States to work later. The American part accepted this position, “he was added.
Contradictions from the Trump administration
The descent, during which these South Korean employees had been chained and handcuffed, is “destabilizing”, underlined the South Korean president.
The American raid has made the headlines in South Korea, a country that has promised to invest $ 350 billion in the United States, after American duty threats.
Seoul said he obtained that his nationals are no longer handcuffed when they repatriate.
This raid highlights the contradictions of the Trump administration, which “brings in large-scale production factories while neglecting to train local workers,” said Kim Dae-Jong, professor of commerce at the University of Sejong.
“Consequently, the South Koreans must form the local workforce”. South Koreans and Americans should “work together, and be not hampered in their efforts,” he told AFP.
These problems linked to American migration policy “should have been treated more quickly,” said Cho Dong-Geun, professor emeritus of economics at the University of Myongji, stressing that South Korean companies have long been aware of visas related problems.
Key ally of the United States for security in the Pacific, South Korea is also the fourth Asian economy, a major player in car construction and electronics. Several South Korean factories are located in the United States.
The employees arrested probably did not have a visa authorizing them to carry out construction work, experts noted.
