Detainees board a bus throughout a raid by federal brokers in which about 300 South Koreans had been amongst 475 individuals arrested on the web site of a $4.3 billion venture by Hyundai Motor and LG Energy Solution to construct batteries for electrical vehicles in Ellabell, Georgia, on Sept. 4, 2025.
U.s. Immigration And Customs Enf | Via Reuters
A aircraft carrying lots of of workers who had been detained in a U.S. immigration raid at a Hyundai-LG Energy Solution battery plant in Georgia final week departed American airspace on Thursday, certain for South Korea.
More than 300 Koreans had been anticipated aboard the chartered aircraft that left Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, in accordance to an announcement from South Korea’s Foreign Ministry translated by NBC News.
A South Korean chartered aircraft transporting workers detained in an enormous U.S. immigration raid final week on a automobile battery plant taxis on the runway earlier than takeoff at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia, on Sept. 11, 2025.
Alyssa Pointer | Reuters
The aircraft was additionally carrying 14 overseas staff of South Korean firms that had been detained.
Thursday’s takeoff marks the most recent growth in a serious diplomatic standoff that has commanded the eye of companies and politicians in the each the U.S. and South Korea.
U.S. authorities had a search warrant when getting into the plant in Ellabell, Georgia, final Thursday. They stated the detained workers had both been working or residing in the nation with out authorized standing.
South Koreans accounted for a majority of the entire detentions that passed off on the web site, which housed a battery plant being constructed by South Korean firms Hyundai and LG Energy Solution.
Following the raid, Seoul mounted a “whole-of-government response” in collaboration with the affected firms, in accordance to the translated assertion.
“The government will continue to exert its utmost efforts until every Korean national has safely returned home,” South Korea’s Foreign Ministry stated in the assertion.
All however one of many South Korean nationals detained by the U.S. in the raid are voluntarily departing on the flight.
A Korean Air constitution aircraft carrying Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Georgia manufacturing facility leaves Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta certain for South Korea on Sept. 11, 2025.
George Walker IV | AP
The overseas ministry stated it was now working to guarantee cooperation between the 2 governments on visa-related points shifting ahead.
The raided battery plant will now face a delay of a minimum of two to three months, in accordance to feedback from Hyundai CEO Jose Munoz reported by Reuters throughout an occasion in Detroit.
Munoz stated he was shocked to initially hear the immigration motion passed off, provided that using such a labor is taken into account typical when a plant is getting began.
“For the construction phase of the plants, you need to get specialized people,” Munoz reportedly stated. “There are a lot of skills and equipment that you cannot find in the United States.”
— CNBC’s Dennis Green and Laya Neelakandan contributed to this report.