South Korean employees detained in U.S. head house as Seoul seeks assist for brand spanking new visa

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun has urged the U.S. Congress to assist a brand new visa for his nation’s companies, as a whole bunch of primarily Korean employees arrested throughout an enormous U.S. immigration raid final week had been set to return house on Friday (September 12, 2025).

“During his conferences with U.S. senators in Washington, Mr. Cho reiterated considerations amongst South Koreans over the detention of Korean professionals collaborating in funding tasks within the United States,” his Ministry stated in an announcement.

A aircraft carrying greater than 300 Korean employees who had been detained through the raid at a Hyundai Motor and LG Energy Solution battery three way partnership within the state of Georgia has left the United States, sure for South Korea.

The aircraft is anticipated to the touch down in South Korea at round 2 p.m. (0500 GMT), in accordance with LG Energy Solution, whose employees and subcontractors had been among the many detainees.

After being held for every week by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the South Korean employees have been launched and flown from Atlanta.

The raid that despatched shockwaves throughout South Korea has threatened to destabilise ties, at a time when each nations are looking for to finalise a commerce deal, and to scare off South Korean funding within the United States that U.S. President Donald Trump has been eager to safe.

“Following the raid, the battery plant is going through a minimal startup delay of two to 3 months,” Hyundai CEO Jose Munoz stated on Thursday (September 11, 2025). “In the wake of the raid, Washington and Seoul have agreed to debate establishing a brand new visa class for South Koreans,” Mr. Cho has stated.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stated on Thursday (September 11, 2025) that a whole bunch of South Korean employees arrested through the immigration raid had the mistaken visas.

“I called up the Koreans, I said, oh, give me a break. Get the right visa and if you’re having problems getting the right visa, call me,” Mr. Lutnick stated in an interview with Axios.

Asked if the raid had created tensions between the nations, Mr. Lutnick advised CNBC Trump would “go and address that.” “So I think he’s going to make a deal with different countries that when they want to build big here, he’ll find a way to get their workers proper work visas, meaning short-term work visas, train Americans and then head home,” he stated.

South Korean firms have complained for years that they’ve struggled to acquire short-term work visas for specialists wanted at their high-tech U.S. vegetation, and had come to depend on a gray zone of looser interpretation of visa guidelines below earlier U.S. administrations.

“Minister Cho emphasised that fundamental preventative measures are essential to ensure that our workforce is not subjected to unfair treatment in order to fulfil our companies’ investment commitments to the United States,” the Ministry stated in an announcement.