Koreans detained in US Hyundai raid return home

South Korean holds up image of President Donald Trump as workers detained in Georgia immigration raid land at Seoul airport

South Koreans hold up a banner of President Donald Trump at the airport in Seoul

(Image credit: Anthony Wallace / AFP via Getty Images)

What happened

More than 300 South Koreans detained last week in a U.S. immigration raid at a Hyundai plant in Georgia landed in South Korea on Friday on a government charter flight. The Trump administration released the 316 Koreans and 14 other Asian nationals from a detention facility in Folkston, Georgia, on Thursday under a deal with Seoul.

Who said what

The mass detention and the “U.S. release of video showing some Korean workers shackled with chains around their hands, ankles and waists have caused public outrage and a sense of betrayal in South Korea,” The Associated Press said. The workers had been expected to arrive Thursday, but President Donald Trump “temporarily delayed the repatriation” to “explore whether they could stay in the United States to educate and train American workers,” The Washington Post said, citing South Korean officials.

South Korean companies, which have invested tens of billions of dollars in U.S. manufacturing facilities, might now be “very hesitant” to expand their U.S. operations, President Lee Jae Myung said Thursday. “I think this will have a significant impact on direct investments in the United States moving forward.” The Korean facility managers “are not there for long-term research or employment,” he added, just to oversee the installation of “machinery and equipment.”

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What next?

Once Georgia’s Hyundai-LG Energy Solution EV battery plant is fully operational, it will hire more than 8,000 American workers, the companies have pledged. Hyundai Motors CEO José Muñoz said Thursday that the raid will set back construction by at least two to three months.

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.