South Korea's president has warned that a U.S. immigration raid and the detention of hundreds of workers at a Hyundai Motor project in Georgia could affect Korean companies' decisions to invest in the U.S.
The detained workers, more than 300 of whom were South Korean, were connected to one of the largest Korean investments in the U.S. -- a Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution battery joint venture that U.S. officials and state leaders have promoted as a major job-creation project.
The arrests paused construction and raised questions about how multinational investments will be staffed amid tighter visa rules and heightened immigration enforcement. At the same time, the Trump administration is hoping that foreign-based companies will move their operations to the U.S. and boost investment and create jobs in response to his tariff policy.
South Korea is also one of the U.S.'s most stalwart partners in Asia. They have a decades-old alliance that is central to the U.S. military posture in the Asia-Pacific, with more than 28,000 American troops based in South Korea.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung warned that the raid could make companies from Asia's fourth-largest economy "very hesitant" about direct investment in the United States, the Yonhap News Agency reported.
For companies, it "could be disadvantageous or difficult to set up a factory there, so they can't but agonize over it," Lee told a news conference in Seoul marking his first 100 days in office.
The raid in Georgia came about a week after U.S. President Donald Trump held a summit with Lee and after South Korea pledged to invest $350 billion in the U.S. as part of a deal reached in July to avoid higher tariffs.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained 475 people at the plant in Ellabell, Georgia, on September 4 in the largest operation in the agency's history.
More than 300 of those detained were South Korean nationals, according to Seoul's Foreign Ministry, and scenes of them being led away in chains triggered outrage at home.
Lee said the detained Koreans were being released early on Thursday, U.S. time, Yonhap reported.
A chartered plane carrying 316 South Koreans and 14 foreign nationals is scheduled to depart early on Friday and arrive in Seoul later that day, the news agency cited Lee as saying.
Sean King, a senior vice president at Park Strategies, previously told Newsweek: "This Georgia incident will give foreign companies fits and cause for real concern as their governments try to meet President Trump's demands for overseas investment in the United States."
U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday: "Your Investments are welcome, and we encourage you to LEGALLY bring your very smart people, with great technical talent, to build world class products, and we will make it quickly and legally possible for you to do so. What we ask in return is that you hire and train American workers."
The more than 300 South Korean workers are due home on Friday afternoon, and there will likely be keen interest in their accounts of the experience. Any hint of poor treatment could fuel public anger and compound corporate worries about U.S. investments.