{"id":214907,"date":"2025-09-10T07:19:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T07:19:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/214907\/"},"modified":"2025-09-10T07:19:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T07:19:11","slug":"what-to-know-fear-lingers-after-koreans-detained-during-raid-at-hyundai-plant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/214907\/","title":{"rendered":"What to know: Fear lingers after Koreans detained during raid at Hyundai plant"},"content":{"rendered":"

POOLER, Ga. (AP) \u2014 After more than 300 South Korean workers were taken into custody during a raid on an electric battery plant in Georgia, the country\u2019s foreign minister traveled to the U.S. this week in hopes of bringing them home.<\/p>\n

The Koreans were among some 475 workers detained during the raid Thursday\u2019s raid<\/a> at the battery factory<\/a> under construction on the campus of Hyundai\u2019s sprawling auto plant west of Savannah. <\/p>\n

South Korea\u2019s Foreign Ministry said Seoul and Washington were discussing details for the workers\u2019 return. Late Tuesday, the State Department announced that Secretary Marco Rubio will meet with Foreign Minister Cho Hyun at the White House on Wednesday morning. <\/p>\n

Here are some things to know about the raid and its aftermath.<\/p>\n

What efforts have been made to get the South Koreans home?<\/p>\n

A Korean Air Boeing 747-8i<\/a> departed from Seoul late Tuesday and was expected to arrive in Atlanta on Wednesday to bring the workers home. <\/p>\n

The workers were being held at an immigration detention center in Folkston, in southeast Georgia, near the state line with Florida. It\u2019s a 285-mile (460-kilometer) drive from there to Atlanta.<\/p>\n

South Korean officials said they\u2019ve been negotiating with the U.S. to win \u201cvoluntary\u201d departures for the workers, rather than deportations that could make them ineligible to return to the U.S. for up to 10 years.<\/p>\n

South Korean TV showed Cho Ki-joong, consul general at the Korean Embassy in Washington, speaking outside the detention center. He said some administrative steps remained to be completed but that things were going smoothly. The South Korean Foreign Ministry declined to comment on media reports that he and other diplomats met with detained workers.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"South<\/p>\n

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun holds his mobile phone before a session of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (AP Photo\/Lee Jin-man)<\/p>\n

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun holds his mobile phone before a session of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (AP Photo\/Lee Jin-man)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

What are the immigration consequences for the workers?<\/p>\n

U.S. authorities have said that those detained during the raid were \u201cunlawfully working\u201d at the plant. But Charles Kuck, a lawyer representing several of the detained South Koreans, said the \u201cvast majority\u201d of the workers from South Korea were doing work that is authorized under the B-1 business visitor visa program.<\/p>\n

A B-1 visitor for business visa allows foreign workers to stay for up to six months, getting reimbursed for expenses while collecting a paycheck back home. There are limits \u2014 for example, they can supervise construction projects but can\u2019t build anything themselves \u2014 but if it\u2019s spelled out in a contract, they can install equipment, Los Angeles immigration lawyer Angelo Paparelli said.<\/p>\n

Also, South Korea is one of 41 countries whose citizens can use the U.S. Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), which provides a visa waiver if they can provide \u201ca legitimate reason\u2019\u2019 for their visit, and this basically gives them B-1 visa status for up to 90 days, said immigration attorney Rita Sostrin in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

What effect has the raid had on the area around the plant?<\/p>\n

In Pooler, a suburb of Savannah, the sprawling Hyundai electric vehicle plant has triggered noticeable growth.<\/p>\n

Signs in shopping center parking lots point to homes for sale in new subdivisions nearby. Construction crews work on multistory apartment buildings while finished apartments in the same complex display large banners proclaiming they\u2019re ready for new residents.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a growing number of Korean restaurants and Asian grocery stores have found a home among standard American fast-food franchises and chain eateries like Starbucks and Cracker Barrel. <\/p>\n

Ruby Gould, president of the Korean American Association of Greater Savannah, said there\u2019s no question that last week\u2019s raid has raised anxiety among the area\u2019s Korean immigrants.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are very upset about the incident, the arrest of the workers,\u201d Gould said. \u201cI\u2019m sure there are some people in fear about this visa situation after they witnessed what\u2019s happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

The U.S. Census Bureau says Pooler\u2019s population jumped to 31,171 last year, an increase of 21% since 2020. That period includes the groundbreaking and construction of Hyundai\u2019s EV factory.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Protesters<\/p>\n

Protesters stage a rally against the detention of South Korean workers during an immigration raid in Georgia, near the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. The signs read \u201cA tariff bomb and workers confinement.\u201d (AP Photo\/Ahn Young-joon)<\/p>\n

Protesters stage a rally against the detention of South Korean workers during an immigration raid in Georgia, near the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. The signs read \u201cA tariff bomb and workers confinement.\u201d (AP Photo\/Ahn Young-joon)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

People of Asian origin made up just 6% of the suburban city\u2019s residents in 2020. While newer demographic data isn\u2019t available, people in the area say Korean Americans and South Korean immigrants make up a sizable share of recent newcomers.<\/p>\n

Pastor Robin Kim and his wife closed last month on a new home in Pooler, where Kim is starting his own church. He left the Army a few months ago after serving as a chaplain to soldiers at nearby Fort Stewart. Kim said they wanted to be a part of the Savannah suburb\u2019s growing Korean community.<\/p>\n

Kim, 51, has sought to calm some of the anger and anxiety in the community since last week\u2019s raid. He noticed fewer Korean people out shopping over the weekend, and reads a constant stream of messages posted in a chat group of 1,900 local Korean residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people feel like they\u2019re being watched, like they\u2019re being judged by the American people,\u201d Kim said. \u201cThey are scared right now. They don\u2019t want to be trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said some are resentful at the U.S. government considering the billions of dollars Hyundai has invested in the Georgia plant and the thousands of U.S. jobs it\u2019s creating. Others worry the immigration arrests will mean increased scrutiny that hinders their own efforts to extend visas or obtain green cards.<\/p>\n

A suggestion that local Korean residents stage a protest, Kim said, was quickly stifled by others who cautioned against drawing attention.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re trying to keep a low profile right now,\u201d he said, \u201cto not go out much and stay home.\u201d<\/p>\n

For his part, Kim hopes the raid doesn\u2019t have lasting impacts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope the Korean community keeps thriving here,\u201d he said, \u201cand we get over this incident real soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Brumback reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writers Hyung-Jin Kim in Seoul and Didi Tang and Paul Wiseman in Washington contributed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"POOLER, Ga. (AP) \u2014 After more than 300 South Korean workers were taken into custody during a raid…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":214908,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[117453,13214,64,112860,112858,117454,10104,57,4353,409,63,362,19548,410,50,80,2068,117456,117455,29914,15243,30357,33946,61,67,370,132,68,107],"class_list":{"0":"post-214907","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"category-us","9":"tag-angelo-paparelli","10":"tag-asia-pacific","11":"tag-business","12":"tag-charles-kuck","13":"tag-cho-hyun","14":"tag-cho-ki-joong","15":"tag-ga-state-wire","16":"tag-general-news","17":"tag-georgia","18":"tag-immigration","19":"tag-jobs-and-careers","20":"tag-legal-proceedings","21":"tag-manufacturing-sector","22":"tag-marco-rubio","23":"tag-news","24":"tag-politics","25":"tag-race-and-ethnicity","26":"tag-rita-sostrin","27":"tag-ruby-gould","28":"tag-savannah","29":"tag-south-korea","30":"tag-south-korea-government","31":"tag-the-boeing-co","32":"tag-u-s-news","33":"tag-united-states","34":"tag-united-states-government","35":"tag-unitedstates","36":"tag-us","37":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115178790253291587","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214907\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}