Firms will hesitate to invest in US after raid
President Lee Jae-Myung said that South Korean companies would be “very hesitant” to invest in the United States after a major migration raid in a Hyundai factory in Georgia last week.
More than 300 South Korean arrested in the raid will return home on Friday. Authorities, their departure “due to the conditions on the US side” was postponed, he said.
“The situation is extremely surprising, Lee Lee said that it is a common practice for Korean companies to send workers to help the establishment of overseas factories.
“If not allowed anymore, it will be difficult to establish production facilities in the United States … to question whether companies are worth making.”
BBC contacted the White House for comment.
Last week, US officials detained 475 people who said they were illegally working in the Battery facility, one of the largest foreign investment projects in the state, as more than 300 South Korean citizens.
Speaking at a press conference to celebrate the first 100 days of his presidency, Lee said Seoul negotiated on visa options for Washington and South Korean workers. [higher] Creating quotas or new visa categories “.
“I think the US will handle it if they see it as a practical necessity,” he said.
The authority added that the workers were postponed from the White House due to an instruction.
“Emir came from Trump and said that the workers should have the freedom to stay in the US if they want.” He said.
LG Energy Solution, which operates with Hyundai, said that most of its arrested employees have various types of visa or under the visa waiver program.
A worker in the facility spoke to the BBC about panic and confusion during the raid. The employee said that the majority of the workers who were detained are mechanics that set up production lines on the field and that they were employed by a contractor.
South Korea, a close ally in Asia, promised to invest tens of billions of dollars in America to balance tariffs.
The media in the country described the raid as “shock”, the Dong-A Ilbo newspaper warned that “it may have a creepy effect on the activities of our businesses in the United States”.
On Thursday, Yonhap News Agency released an editor calling the two countries to “cooperate to repair the cracks in the alliances”.
As the two governments participated in sensitive trade negotiations, the schedule of pressure caused concern in Seoul.
The White House defended the operation at the Hyundai factory and rejected the concerns that the pressure could deterd the foreign investment.
On Sunday, US President Donald Trump referred to the raid in a social media mission and asked foreign companies to hire Americans.
Trump said that if the US government respects foreign firms to bring workers to the country if they respect immigration laws, it would provide “fast and legally possible”.
