Trump Shows S Korea Who's Boss With Hyundai Plant Raid

2025-09-07 08:09:55

(MENAFN- Asia Times) Agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 475 employees of the Hyundai Motor-LG Energy Solution joint venture in a raid on the company's EV battery manufacturing plant near Savannah, Georgia, on Thursday, September 4. Personnel from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) were also involved.

A video released by ICE shows a helicopter flying overhead, an armored vehicle, a convoy of SUVs, agents in military uniforms with sidearms and automatic weapons, and workers in ankle chains and handcuffs lined up, patted down and herded onto buses.

More than 300 of those detained were from South Korea, where the incident received wide publicity and immediately became a top concern of the government. South Korean President Lee Jae-myung told his officials that“all-out necessary measures should be done to support Korean nationals in this matter and to resolve it as fast as possible.”

South Korea Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Hyun said,“If necessary, we will visit Washington directly to discuss the matter with the administration,” while the Korean press reported on the poor sanitary conditions at the processing center to which the detainees were sent.

Steven Schrank, chief special agent of HIS in Atlanta, told the news media that“This operation underscores our commitment to protecting jobs for Georgians and Americans, ensuring a level playing field for businesses that comply with the law, safeguarding the integrity of our economy, and protecting workers from exploitation,” adding that“There was a network of subcontractors and subcontractors for the subcontractors there, so the employees worked for a variety of different companies.”

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