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| ▲ Foreign Minister Cho Hyun (R) speaks during a government response meeting to a U.S. immigration raid that detained hundreds of South Korean nationals at the government complex in Seoul on Sept. 6, 2025. (Yonhap) |
FM-US immigration raid
FM Cho making arrangements to visit U.S. this week after immigration raid in Georgia
By Chae Yun-hwan
SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Yonhap) -- Foreign Minister Cho Hyun has been making arrangements with the United States for a possible visit to the U.S. this week as part of efforts to respond to the arrests of hundreds of South Koreans by U.S. immigration authorities at a battery plant site in Georgia, a source said Sunday.
More than 300 South Korean nationals out of 457 people have been taken into custody during a U.S. immigration raid Thursday on the site operated by South Korean companies Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution in Bryan County.
If the trip is realized, Cho is expected to meet U.S. officials to request their cooperation for the swift release of detained South Koreans, while calling for their rights to not be unfairly violated, according to the diplomatic source.
During a government response meeting to the U.S. immigration arrests on Saturday, Cho said he would visit Washington if necessary for talks with U.S. officials.
Consular officials started meeting South Korean nationals detained at an immigration detention center in Folkston on Saturday, checking their health and other conditions, according to Seoul officials.
The on-site team is currently led by Cho Ki-joong, consul general at the Korean Embassy in Washington. The team focuses on ensuring that the detained Koreans will be set free as soon as possible amid concerns that the investigation process could be prolonged.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said that those arrested were found to be working illegally in the United States, including those on short-term or recreational visas that prohibit them from working.
U.S. officials cast Thursday'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."
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