South Korea Reacts to Immigration Raid on Hyundai

South Korea's Foreign Minister Cho Hyun is heading to the United States right away to sort out the mess from a huge immigration sweep at a battery plant run by Hyundai Motor and LG Energy Solution in Georgia.

About 300 South Korean workers were caught up in the raid, which nabbed a total of 475 people on September 4. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) called it "Operation Low Voltage," and it's the biggest bust like this in the history of the Department of Homeland Security. It's really straining ties between the U.S. and one of its closest partners in Asia.

The raid hit a site in Ellabell, Georgia, that's part of a whopping $7.6 billion project to make batteries for electric vehicles. The place was supposed to start cranking out batteries by the end of the year. Back in Seoul, the Foreign Ministry said they're "deeply sorry and worried" about it all. They stressed that the everyday work and basic rights of South Korean folks shouldn't get trampled in U.S. police actions.

Key Highlights:

• South Korea's Foreign Minister Cho Hyun is heading to the U.S. to address the fallout from a major immigration raid at a Hyundai-LG battery plant in Georgia, where over 300 South Korean workers were detained
• The ICE-led “Operation Low Voltage” marks the largest such raid in U.S. Homeland Security history, straining diplomatic ties just days after South Korea signed a $350B trade deal with the U.S
• Hyundai and LG have paused construction on the $7.6B EV battery project as both governments investigate subcontractor practices and work toward the release of detained workers

Videos from ICE showing workers in handcuffs getting loaded onto buses have folks in South Korea pretty upset. This all happened just 10 days after South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump shook hands in Washington and promised to team up more on business deals.

South Korea's already working to get those detained workers freed up, and they're planning to bring them back home on a special charter flight as soon as the paperwork's done. President Lee has called for a full-court press on this, and the government's taking a hard look at how they handle visas to avoid repeats.

This whole thing is putting a dent in the U.S.-South Korea friendship, especially since Seoul just inked a $350 billion trade agreement to pump more money into the American economy. Even some U.S. politicians from Georgia are ripping into the raid, saying it went after regular workers instead of actual bad guys like violent criminals, and that it erodes trust with companies from around the world.

Also Read: Former PPP Leader Han Dong-hoon Launches Presidential Bid

Hyundai and LG have hit the pause button on building the plant while they dig into what went wrong with their subcontractors. LG said 47 of their own staff got picked up. As Minister Cho tries to smooth things over in talks with U.S. officials, this raid is shining a spotlight on how tough it can be to keep strict immigration rules in check while building big international business partnerships. Everyone's hoping for a quick fix to get things back on track.