Lee says US immigration raid on Korean workers could deter investments

President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a press conference marking his 100 days in office at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Thursday. Joint Press Corps

President Lee Jae Myung said Thursday that the recent U.S. immigration raid on hundreds of Korean workers at a construction site in Georgia could have a “significant impact” on Korean businesses' direct investments in the United States, adding that the episode left companies here on edge.

His remarks, delivered at a press conference marking his first 100 days in office, came hours before some 300 Korean nationals held at an immigration detention facility in Georgia were released on Thursday (local time) following days of urgent negotiations between Seoul and Washington.

"You need skilled technicians to install equipment at a factory. The U.S. doesn’t have such personnel, yet visas for those coming for this purpose are not allowed," Lee said during the televised press conference when asked about the detainees.

"If this is not allowed, our companies will face all kinds of difficulties and disadvantages when setting up factories in the U.S., and they will inevitably question whether they should proceed. This may have a significant impact on their direct investments in the U.S."

The president added that as the two sides negotiate to obtain additional quotas or create a new visa category for Korean workers, Washington is likely to approach the issue from a practical standpoint.

The unprecedented immigration raid has rattled Seoul’s business community, leaving conglomerates wary of new investments after pouring billions into U.S. plants for semiconductors, automobiles and batteries in a bid to avoid tariffs and secure subsidies.

Korean nationals board a bus to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to depart for Korea after being released from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Folkston, Ga., early Thursday. Yonhap

Andy Baker, White House deputy national security adviser, said during his meeting with Foreign Minister Cho Hyun in Washington, Wednesday (local time), that the American visa system has fallen short of adequately supporting the large-scale Korean investments made under the Donald Trump administration.

Seoul's foreign ministry said Baker made the remarks during the meeting, in which the two pledged to turn the latest incident, which Cho described as "a situation that could have escalated into a major crisis in Korea-U.S. relations," into an opportunity for improvements in related measures.

The two nations are expected to hold follow-up talks on visa measures, as a shortage of work visas for Koreans has been cited as a key factor behind the sweeping immigration raid.

Most of the detained Korean workers had entered the U.S. on short-term business visas or through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), which is typically used for brief visits. Korean companies seeking to send supervisors to factory construction sites must apply for H-1B visas, which are capped at 85,000 per year worldwide and allocated by random lottery.

As officials wrap up negotiations on the detainees' release, a Korean Air chartered plane carrying 316 Koreans is scheduled to depart Atlanta at Thursday noon (local time), with one detainee choosing to remain in the U.S.

Aboard the plane will be a total of 330 people, including 14 non-Korean nationals — 10 Chinese, three Japanese and one Indonesian — who were also swept up in the raid.

According to the foreign ministry, these individuals were escorted from the detention center in Folkston to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport without handcuffs, in line with Trump's order to respect Seoul's request.

The ministry also said Seoul has secured assurances that the Koreans will face no disadvantages reentering the United States.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters outside a restaurant in Washington, Tuesday (local time). AFP-Yonhap

These developments come a week after the Korean workers were arrested during a massive raid at an electric vehicle battery plant construction site near Savannah, Georgia, operated by a joint venture between Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution.

The departure, initially scheduled for the previous day, was briefly delayed after Trump encouraged the Koreans to remain in the U.S. and keep working.

"President Trump said the detained Korean nationals are all skilled workers, and that he wanted to explore whether they could stay in the U.S. to continue working and training American workers, rather than return home," a foreign ministry official told reporters in Washington, Wednesday. "He therefore ordered the repatriation process to be put on hold.”

The official said that the explanation came during a meeting between Cho and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington earlier that day.

In response to Trump's proposal, Cho told Rubio that since the detained individuals were extremely shocked and exhausted, it would be better for them to return home first and then come back to the U.S. later.

Meanwhile, following the employees' release, LG Energy Solution said it would use the incident "as an opportunity to further strengthen its management system to preemptively prevent and respond to potential issues at overseas business facilities."