The more than 300 South Koreans arrested Thursday in a factory in the United States by immigration police will soon be released and repatriated to their country, Seoul announced on Sunday.
“Thanks to the quick and united response … Negotiations for the release of arrested workers were concluded,” Kang Hoon-Sik, chief of staff Lee Jae Myung on Sunday.
“Only the administrative procedures remain. Once these are finished, a flight will take off to repatriate our nationals, “he added. Seoul estimated their number on Saturday at “more than 300”.
US immigration police announced on Friday that they had led a raid on Thursday in a automotive battery manufacturing plant in South Korean groups Hyundai and LG Energy solution in Ellabelll, in the state of Georgia. The people arrested are suspected of working illegally in the United States.
This is the most important operation ever carried out on a single site as part of the immigrant expulsion campaign initiated by the American president, Donald Trump. A total of 475 people were arrested in the factory.
“They are given to eat and we allow them to take a shower, but the conditions (retention) are bad,” said the South Korean news agency Yonhap since an LG Energy Solution subcontractor, who spoke with one of the workers. According to him, they are not handcuffed.
Photo Corey Bullard, Associated Press
Employees were escorted outside the Hyundai group’s electric vehicle plant on September 4, 2025, in Ellabell, in Georgia.
Images of the RAID, broadcast by the American authorities, have shown arrested, handcuffed employees and with chains with ankles, boarding a private transport bus.
A senior executive from LG Energy Solution flew on Sunday for Georgia.
“Immediate priority is the rapid release of our employees LG Energy Solution and those of our partner companies,” Kim Ki-Soo told journalists before boarding the plane.
About 250 of the arrested people are employees of subcontractors of LG Energy Solution, and mostly South Koreans, the company said on Saturday.
And 47 (46 South Koreans and an Indonesian), are direct LG employees, depending on the company.
Friday, Hyundai said that none of the arrested people was “directly employed” by the group.
Fourth Asian economy, South Korea is an important car manufacturer and producer of electronic equipment with many factories in the United States.
In July, Seoul had promised to invest $ 350 billion in the United States, following threats to Donald Trump’s customs duties.
