Poll shows 6 in 10 Koreans say US raid on Georgia plant left them ‘disappointed’

Protesters stage a performance depicting U.S. President Donald Trump "oppressing Korean workers chained in shackles" at a press conference in front of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap

A majority of Koreans said they were disappointed in the U.S. government following the recent mass detention of Korean workers at a battery plant in Georgia, a poll showed Tuesday.

According to a survey of more than 500 adults recently conducted by Realmeter, 59.2 percent of respondents said they view the immigration crackdown on Hyundai Motor Group-LG Energy Solution’s factory site as “excessive” and expressed disappointment with the Donald Trump administration’s actions. Only 30.7 found the measures “understandable and inevitable.”

The sense of frustration was particularly strong among self-identified liberals at 73.7 percent. Even among conservatives ― the staunchest supporters of the Seoul-Washington alliance ― only 53.9 percent said they “understand” the U.S. decision.

This comes after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained 475 people — most of whom were Korean nationals, including skilled engineers — at the plant construction site on Thursday (local time), alleging that they were engaged in activities not permitted under their visas.

The raid was part of a broader crackdown on unauthorized workers in the United States, a central component of the Trump administration’s anti-immigration policy, which has divided the American electorate.

The raid’s public fallout underscores the ongoing national debate in the U.S. over enforcement, with a July 2025 Fox News poll finding that roughly half of American voters (49 percent) believe ICE has been “too aggressive” in its deportation efforts, while 24 percent say it has not been aggressive enough and 27 percent consider it “about right.”

Officials in Seoul said the detained Koreans are expected to be released and return home later this week.

On Tuesday, activists from the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and other groups staged a demonstration outside the U.S. Embassy in central Seoul, denouncing the mass arrests as a human rights violation and calling for an immediate halt to Korean investment in the United States.

“Despite pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into investments, Korea has found itself in a situation where it cannot even guarantee the safety and basic rights of its workers,” the protesters said in a statement. “Trump has responded to the Korean investment by subjecting Korean workers to illegal and violent arrest and detention.”

“In Korea, there are many Americans who come and engage in various kinds of employment activities that go beyond their visa purposes … What would happen if the government here carried out a mass raid on such people, chained them up, and detained them in facilities?” said Park Seok-un, co-head of National People’s Action, a coalition of progressive groups.

Yang Kyung-soo, chief of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, protests against a U.S. raid that targeted Korean workers, in front of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of Korean Confederation of Trade Unions

Just weeks ago, Korean companies, including Hyundai, Samsung, SK and LG announced a new wave of major investments in U.S. manufacturing, including shipbuilding and semiconductors.

“Halt investments in the U.S. immediately. Restore the dignity of the workers. If not, this will inevitably happen again,” said Um Mi-kyung, the KCTU’s acting secretary general. “We will fight to the very end to put an end to these U.S. investments that are destroying Korea’s domestic economy and dismantling our manufacturing industry.”

The KCTU announced that it launched a relay protest, which involves people holding individual protests at intervals in front of the U.S. Embassy building, led by its chief, Yang Kyung-soo.