Bahk Eun-ji has been with The Korea Times since 2012, building a career across multiple desks. She began at the Business Desk, where she conducted in-depth interviews with key figures in Korea's corporate world. Later, she moved to the Politics & City Desk, focusing on education policy and social affairs. She later served as team leader of the digital content team, leading curation efforts on the newspaper’s homepage and reshaping print stories for social media audiences to enhance digital reach. Now back on the Politics Desk, she covers the National Assembly and the Ministry of National Defense, with a renewed focus on political developments.
Detained Korean workers’ departure from US delayed
A Korean Air charter plane departs from Terminal 2 of Incheon International Airport Wednesday to bring home Korean workers detained at the Hyundai Motor-LG Energy Solution battery plant construction site in Georgia. U.S. Joint Press Corps
By Bahk Eun-ji
Questions remain over reentry risks for detainees
The planned departure of hundreds of Korean workers detained in Georgia during an immigration raid has been delayed, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Wednesday, due to “a cause from the U.S. side.”
It did not explain what the cause was, raising concerns that their detention could be extended.
The ministry said in a message to reporters that the plane’s departure, which was initially planned for 2:30 p.m. Wednesday (local time) from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, was postponed, without stating a new departure time.
“The government is continuing consultation with the U.S. for as swift a departure as possible. We will provide further updates once a new schedule is confirmed,” it said.
The announcement was made hours after a Korean Air charter flight departed Incheon International Airport for Hartsfield-Jackson airport to transport some 300 Koreans. They were scheduled to arrive in Korea the following evening.
While the ministry is refraining from naming the cause of the delay, speculation is rising that the two sides may have different interpretations of the nature of the departure and whether the workers will face restrictions if they try to reenter the country.
The Korean government has sought to frame the departures as “voluntary,” but a senior U.S. official referred to the move as “deportation.”
Cho Ki-joong, Korea’s consul general in Washington, visited the Folkston detention center where the detainees were being held. “We have worked with U.S. authorities to complete the necessary procedures,” he said, adding that officials were doing everything possible to ensure a smooth transfer.
Seoul has stressed that the workers will leave under the rules of voluntary departure, which do not carry the same legal consequences as deportation. Nevertheless, U.S. immigration law allows for bans to be imposed depending on the length of the unlawful stay, so the possibility of individual penalties cannot be ruled out.
The situation became more confusing when some detainees signed forms early on that included a $1,000 payment for voluntary departure to avoid a 10-year entry ban.
It is possible that the U.S. authorities may regard those who sign the forms as admitting the illegality of their stay and later ban them from reentering.
A lawyer helping the workers in Georgia told Yonhap News that Korean consular staff learned about these forms being signed and made the paperwork invalid, which only aggravated confusion among the workers.
The debate intensified after U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said “they will be deported,” a remark widely seen as blurring the line between two very different legal outcomes and raising fears that it could affect future visa screenings.
Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, who was in Washington for talks with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, informed lawmakers prior to his trip that the two governments had reached a “broad agreement” on avoiding reentry problems. “We are working to ensure citizens are treated as voluntary departures and are not disadvantaged later,” he said.
However, his meeting with Rubio was postponed from Tuesday to Wednesday (local time), and the delay raised concerns that the two countries had not finalized an agreement on the reentry issue.
Before meeting the state secretary, Cho had a meeting in Washington with officials from LG, Hyundai Motor, Samsung Electronics, Hanwha and SK, among other major firms operating in the country. The companies called for a separate E-4 visa quota for Korean professionals, higher approval rates for E-2 investor visas and clearer guidelines on the use of short-term business visas such as the B-1.
The foreign minister said that these concerns had already been communicated with Washington and promised to continue advocating for solutions to enable Korean businesses to operate with more stability and predictability.
Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt explained that the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Commerce were collaborating to prevent similar incidents. She added that the administration was coordinating across agencies to resolve visa issues affecting foreign corporate employees.
The large-scale raid took place on Sept. 4 at the Hyundai Motor-LG Energy Solution battery plant in Ellabell, Georgia, where Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained 475 workers, including more than 300 Koreans, for allegedly working on visas that do not permit employment.