Koreans detained in US Hyundai raid return home
Over 300 Koreans were detained at the plant last week


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.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
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.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
Are inflatable costumes and naked bike rides helping or hurting ICE protests?
Talking Points Trump administration efforts to portray Portland and Chicago as dystopian war zones have been met with dancing frogs, bare butts and a growing movement to mock MAGA doomsaying
-
Trump’s deportations are changing how we think about food
IN THE SPOTLIGHT The Department of Labor’s admission that immigration raids have affected America’s food supplies reopens a longstanding debate
-
The end of ‘golden ticket’ asylum rights
The Explainer Refugees lose automatic right to bring family over and must ‘earn’ indefinite right to remain
-
Apple bows to Trump administration pressure over ICE tracking apps
In the Spotlight It’s the latest company to capitulate to Trump’s demands
-
‘Conspiracy theories about her disappearance do a disservice’
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Why is this government shutdown so consequential?
Today's Big Question Federal employee layoffs could be in the thousands
-
Miami Freedom Tower’s MAGA library squeeze
THE EXPLAINER Plans to place Donald Trump’s presidential library next to an iconic symbol of Florida’s Cuban immigrant community has South Florida divided
-
Gunman kills 1 detainee, wounds 2 at ICE facility
Speed Read A sniper shot three detainees at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office before fatally shooting himself