HUNDREDS of South Koreans were detained during a major US immigration raid on a Hyundai-LG battery plant being built in the state of Georgia, prompting Seoul to urge Washington Friday to respect its citizens’ rights.
South Korea, Asia’s fourth biggest economy, is a key automaker and electronics producer with multiple plants in the United States.
Its largest companies, including carmaker Hyundai and tech giant LG, have poured billions of dollars into developing new US factories.
On Thursday local time, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raided the “site of a (South Korean) company’s battery plant in Georgia”, South Korean foreign ministry spokesperson Lee Jae-woong told reporters.
“Multiple Korean nationals were detained,” he said.
A source familiar with the matter, who was not authorised to speak publicly, told AFP that around 300 South Korean nationals had been detained.
Lee said that for South Korea “the economic activities of our investors and the legitimate rights and interests of our nationals must not be unjustly infringed in the course of US law enforcement”.
Seoul said it had sent diplomatic staff to the site and ordered them to establish a task force to address the situation.
It had also “conveyed our concern and regret” over the incident to the US Embassy in Seoul.
In July, Seoul pledged $350 billion in US investment to ease tariff threats from President Donald Trump, who was elected last year on a promise to lead the largest migrant deportation program in US history.
Trump’s administration has been aggressively targeting the estimated 11 million undocumented migrants in the United States.
The Atlanta office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said on X it had detained around 450 “unlawful aliens” during an enforcement at the battery site, a joint venture between Hyundai and LG.
Steven Schrank, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Georgia, told reporters the raid was “an investigation into unlawful employment practices”.
“We are making many arrests of undocumented individuals. We have encountered many lawful employees working here, United States citizens and lawful permanent residents, and they are of course being released,” he added.
South Korean companies have invested billions of dollars into building factories in America in a bid to access the US market and avoid tariffs.
In March, Hyundai announced a multi-billion-dollar investment in the United States, including a new $5.8 billion steel plant.
“Cars are coming to this country at levels never seen before,” Trump said at the time.
The investment was “a clear demonstration that tariffs very strongly work,” he added.
The investments, spanning a $5.8 billion steel plant in Louisiana, expanded US auto production and a robotics facility are expected to generate about 25,000 new jobs in the United States over the next four years, according to the company.
Hyundai Motor Group told AFP it had no comment on the raid.
LG Energy Solution told AFP it was “closely monitoring the situation and gathering all relevant details”.
“Our top priority is always ensuring the safety and well-being of our employees and partners. We will fully cooperate with the relevant authorities,” it added.