South Korea wants workers detained in immigration raid to be able to re-enter US

8/9/2025 19:11

South Korea said on Monday that it wants hundreds of its citizens, who were arrested last week during a large U.S. immigration raid at a car battery project and are due to be flown home soon, to be allowed to re-enter the United States.



Foreign Minister Cho Hyun is flying out to Washington on Monday evening and will meet with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio during his trip to resolve the issue. Cho also said he would be asking for the U.S. visa system for Korean workers to be streamlined in the future.



About 300 South Koreans were among 475 arrested on Thursday at the site of a $4.3 billion project by Hyundai Motor and LG Energy Solution to build batteries for electric cars. It was the largest single-site enforcement operation in the history of the Department of Homeland Security's investigative operations.