By Berk Kutay Gokmen
ISTANBUL (AA) - More than 300 South Koreans, who were arrested in a US immigration crackdown last week on a Hyundai-LG battery plant in Georgia, were released on Thursday, the Yonhap news agency reported.
A total of 316 South Korean nationals left a detention center in Folkston, Georgia, a week after their arrest in a raid at an electric vehicle plant construction site in Bryan County.
South Korean nationals, along with 14 foreigners, will board a chartered plane in Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta to return home by "voluntary departure," instead of deportation.
The flight is expected to take off at noon local time and will arrive in South Korea on Friday.
Earlier, South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung said that more than 300 South Korean workers detained by US immigration authorities will be released on Thursday, and a chartered plane carrying the detained will depart on Friday and arrive in Seoul in the afternoon.
The departure, initially planned for Wednesday, was delayed after US officials insisted on transporting the workers in handcuffs, he further said, adding that Washington reversed the decision after Seoul "strongly" protested.
He said that Washington reversed its stance after "a directive from the White House."
"President Donald Trump ordered, 'Let them return freely, but those who don't want to go don't have to.' So the process was temporarily halted to change the administrative procedures," he said.
A total of 475 people, including 316 South Koreans, were arrested during the raid at the facility, which is a joint venture between Hyundai and LG, touted by Georgia state officials as a landmark investment. Governor Brian Kemp said in 2023 that it would be the "largest economic development project in Georgia’s history."
Seoul, in late July, pledged a $350 billion investment in the US after Trump agreed to cut tariffs on goods from South Korea from 25% to 15%.