 |
| ▲ This photo, captured from a video clip from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), shows people arrested during an immigration raid on an electric vehicle battery plant construction site, operated by South Korean companies, Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution Ltd., on Sept. 4, 2025, (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
Korean workers-US crackdown
Koreans detained in U.S. immigration crackdown may board chartered plane around Wednesday: Seoul official
By Song Sang-ho and Lee Yu-mi
FOLKSTON/WASHINGTON, Sept. 7 (Yonhap) -- South Koreans detained in a recent U.S. immigration crackdown may be able to board a chartered plane around Wednesday (Washington time) to return home, a Seoul official said Sunday, as the presidential office in Seoul said negotiations for their release have concluded.
Cho Ki-joong, consul general at the Korean Embassy in Washington, made the remarks in a press meeting at a detention center in Folkston, Georgia where some 300 Korean nationals have been detained following Thursday's raid in an electric vehicle battery plant construction site operated by a joint venture of Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution in Bryan County.
"(We) think that around Wednesday, (they will be able to board a plane)," Cho said at the Folkston Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Processing Center.
Once the Koreans are released, they are expected to move to Jacksonville International Airport in Florida, about a 50-minute bus ride from the Folkston facility.
"During our technical discussions regarding the operation of the chartered plane, the closest one is Jacksonville International Airport," Cho said.
Diplomats from the Consulate General in Atlanta and other Korean missions have met the Korean citizens at the detention center, checking their health and other conditions. Consular consultations with them, including those in a female facility, are expected to be completed on Sunday.
"I met them at a dining facility where they gathered," Cho said. "They were all okay. Of course, they are not as comfortable as being at home."
He underscored that Seoul is making its utmost to ensure that those who wish to return home can come back to Korea "as promptly as possible."
U.S. officials cast last week's raid as "the largest single site enforcement operation in the history of Homeland Security Investigations." U.S. President Donald Trump expressed his support Friday for the ICE operation, describing those detained as "illegal aliens."
ICE has unveiled a short video clip of the raid into the Korean plant site, showing Korean and other workers being screened, shackled with handcuffs and metal chains, and loaded onto an "inmate transport" vehicle.
On Sunday (Seoul time), the presidential office in Seoul said that as soon as administrative procedures are worked out, a chartered plane will head to the U.S. to bring the Koreans back home.
(END)
(C) Yonhap News Agency. All Rights Reserved
