South Koreans detained in Georgia to return home Wednesday
A chartered plane will ferry hundreds of South Koreans home from Atlanta after they were detained for illegally working at a Hyundai electric battery plant.
Cho Ki-joong, consul general at the Korean Embassy in Washington, D.C., speaks to journalists after a meeting at the Folkston ICE Processing Center and D. Ray James Correctional Facility in Folkston, Ga. Photo by Erik S. Lesser/EPA UPI
Sept. 9 (UPI) -- A chartered plane will ferry hundreds of South Koreans home from Atlanta after they were detained for illegally working at a Hyundai electric battery plant in Georgia.
About 300 South Korean nationals were among 475 people detained by federal agents on Thursday at the under-construction electric battery plant in Ellabell, Ga.
The South Korean government is sending a chartered plane to Atlanta on Wednesday morning to remove those who want to return to South Korea, according to CNN.
The aircraft likely will depart Atlanta during the afternoon.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, during a Tuesday cabinet meeting, expressed a "profound sense of responsibility" and his "deepest sympathy" to South Koreans who were affected, NBC News reported.
Some of those who were detained said they will stay in the United States to challenge their detainments in court.
Lee called the matter an "unjust infringement upon the activities of our people and companies in pursuit of the shared development of South Korea and the United States."
The South Korean government will work closely with the U.S. government to make "reasonable institutional improvements" to prevent further occurrences, Lee said.
Homeland Security Investigations, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other law enforcement conducted the raid and said those who were detained are not authorized to work in the United States.
Three of those who were detained are from Japan, and others were from Central and South American nations.
The electric battery plant is a joint project by Hyundai and LG Energy Solution and is to provide batteries for Hyundai electric vehicles.
Many of those working at the plant had B-1 visas, which are issued for short-term business travel, The Korea Herald reported.
Many others received electronic travel authorization to visit the United States, but neither B-1 visas nor the travel authorizations allowed their respective holders to work.
ICE officials agreed to allow the South Koreans and others to voluntarily leave the United States, which Wednesday's planned flight will enable them to do.
