Just days after hundreds of Koreans were detained during a U.S. immigration raid at a Hyundai Metaplant near Savannah, officials in South Korea are vowing to support those in detention.
During an emergency Saturday afternoon meeting in Seoul, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun ordered officials to make “all-out efforts” to resolve the detention of about 300 South Koreans, The Korea Herald reported based on the meeting that occurred at 3:30 a.m. (EST) Saturday. The effort will include assistance from the Korean Embassy in Washington, the Consulate General in Atlanta and a dispatched response team.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it also plans to consider trips to the U.S. by high-ranking officials. Cho hinted at the possibility of going to the U.S. while expressing “deep concern and a grave sense of responsibility” during Saturday’s meeting, The Korea Herald reported.
Before the meeting, the Foreign Ministry established the Headquarters for the Protection of Overseas Koreans, according to the news organization.
Saturday’s emergency meeting came in response to the detainment of 475 people at a construction site on the Hyundai Metaplant campus near Savannah during a Thursday operation. It was the largest single immigration raid in the history of Homeland Security Investigations.
Steven Schrank, special agent in charge of HSI Atlanta, said the arrests stemmed from a monthslong investigation into alleged undocumented and illegal work at a battery plant under construction in Bryan County.
The battery factory is part of Hyundai Motor Group’s 3,000-acre Metaplant site that has been touted by Georgia leaders as the largest economic development deal in state history.
Schrank confirmed that a “majority” of the arrests were Korean nationals.
The situation quickly prompted concern among South Korea’s political leadership.
“The economic activities of our investment companies and the rights and interests of our citizens must not be unjustly violated during U.S. law enforcement proceedings,” Lee Jaewoong, a spokesperson for South Korea’s Foreign Ministry, said at a Friday news conference in Seoul, according to multiple media outlets.
Gov. Brian Kemp has also repeatedly touted recruiting Hyundai’s projects to Georgia. State and local leaders offered Hyundai a taxpayer-backed incentive package estimated at $1.8 billion. Hyundai and its subsidiaries are also involved in a battery factory in Bartow County and the expansion of Kia’s automobile plant in West Point.
A day before Thursday’s raid, Kemp announced another big investment that brings a U.S. subsidiary of a Korean biotechnology company to Georgia. JS Link America is a U.S.-owned subsidiary of JS Link and its new manufacturing facility will be located at Muscogee Technology Park in Columbus.
“From day one, Georgia’s economic development team, local community leadership in Columbus, and Georgia Power all welcomed JS Link with a pro-business approach,” said Jun Y. Lee, JS Link America Inc.’s CEO. “JS Link plans to be a part of a value chain focused entirely on Western nations to meet the growing demand for permanent magnets sourced from strategic allies such as Korea.”
JS Link specializes in research and development, which includes the production of permanent magnets used in the production of automobiles, wind turbines, elevators, home appliances, robotics, data centers and other electronics.
Most of those detained Thursday were taken to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Folkston, Schrank said.
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