South Korea says it has a deal for release of those caught in Hyundai Georgia raid
Seoul – South Korea said that the US agreed to release hundreds of Korean releasing hundreds of Korean caught in the biggest immigration raid so far last week.
South Korean presidential chief Kang Hoon-Sik said in a statement on Sunday, a factory, South Korean battery manufacturer LG Energy solution and automobile company Hyundai’nin Federal immigration pressures built in Georgia to ensure the release of workers arrested with the US officials said.
He said the workers could return home on a rented flight early this week.
Kang, “South Korean government will be on duty until our citizens return home safely and will remain on the situation,” he said.
On Thursday, Federal Agents Ellabell arrested 475 people in the factory field in GA. More than 300 of those detained were South Korean citizens who were employed by LG and subcontractors.
Basma promised a new investment of billions of dollars to increase production operations in the United States as a part of a trade agreement achieved by President Trump and South Korean counterpart Lee Jae Myung, the largest companies of South Korea.
In late July, Trump announced that tariffs from South Korea will only be 15% after accepting to invest $ 350 billion in South Korea’s key US industries and purchasing $ 100 billion -worthless natural gas.
RAID’s targeting Korea’s most ambitious investments WE At a time when the country tried to rapidly increase its commitments, it created disbelief and anger for some in Seoul.
At a press conference on Sunday, the ruling party deputy OH Gi-Hyoung said that the South Koreans should be treated with a level of respect proportional to their countries with a great US allies and investor status.
According to the South Korean Ministry of Finance, the United States is currently the largest share of South Korea’s overseas investments last year, 26 billion dollars. South Korea is currently USA 8th largest The trade partner exchanged 242.5 billion dollars of goods and services last year.
“If the US really wants to invest in South Korean companies, things like this cannot be,” he said.
In a statement published on Friday, the US Attorney Office in the southern region of Georgia, the largest site raid in the history of the internal security department, said that the US is part of a country -wide attempt to öyle repel the occupation of illegal migration ”known as the US operation.
ICE said that those who were arrested work illegally in “Short -Term or Entertainment Visa”, which does not allow visitors to work.
According to data compiled by the Pew Research Center, as of 2022, approximately 110,000 unauthorized South Korean immigrants living in the US represented 1% of the total.
Experts in South Korea, even if the workers were quickly released, said that this heavy movement could affect how the Asian nation sees the trade relationship with the United States.
Industry experts say that pressure can lead to logistical difficulties for both ongoing and future efforts of South Korean companies in the USA.
South Korea recently announced a $ 150 billion project to help revitalize an American shipbuilding industry. There are also nearly 10 battery facilities projects that are currently ongoing in the USA.
The companies here have sent their technical experts to control the construction of US factories using non -business travel permits such as Esta (or electronic system for travel authority), a visa waiver that allows tourists to stay in the country for up to 90 days.
Hwang In-Long, an industrial policy expert at the Korean Electronics Institute, a government thought-tank, a government thought-tank, has been tolerated by US authorities for a long time, ”he said.
South Korean companies have long been complaining that legally required visas for the sent workers are very time -consuming and challenging.
For example, the H-1B visa, which allows people to work, is given through a lottery organized once a year. And taking one is gradually becoming more and more difficult under Trump, which limits the suitability under the “buy American, American rental” flag.
“South Korean companies are reluctant to go to this route, because a Washington-based American immigration lawyer Chun Jong-Jon said, because it takes at least 8 months before starting working on an H-1B, and there is no guarantee that you will get it.”
Hwang said it is almost impossible to find enough Americans with skills such as lithium ion battery production or shipbuilding to South Korea’s US factories.
“From now on, there is no other way to send experienced South Korean experts to help.”
After the release of workers detained, South Korean officials said they would make improvements in US work permits for South Korean citizens.
Chile, Australia and Singapore have a special work visa programs that allow their citizens to work in special roles in the USA.
Until then, arrests at the Georgian battery facility will mean cost -lasting delays that last for months as they struggle to reorganize joint venture workers.
“In case of LG energy solutions, they will have to think twice before sending workers to the Georgia factory, H Hwang said.
