South Korea to repatriate 300 workers detained in plant raid

More than 300 South Korean workers detained following a massive immigration raid at a Hyundai plant in Georgia will be released and brought home, the South Korean government announced Sunday.

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Kang Hoon-sik, chief of staff for President Lee Jae Myung, said South Korea and the US had finalized negotiations on the workers' release. He said South Korea plans to send a charter plane to bring the workers home as soon as remaining administrative steps are completed.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry said that Seoul and Washington are discussing details on allowing all the detained workers to return on a voluntary basis. It said Foreign Minister Cho Hyun is to leave for the US on Monday afternoon for talks related to the workers' releases.

US immigration authorities said Friday they detained 475 people, most of them South Korean nationals, when hundreds of federal agents raided Hyundai's sprawling manufacturing site in Georgia where the Korean automaker makes electric vehicles. Agents focused on a plant that is still under construction at which Hyundai has partnered with LG Energy Solution to produce batteries that power EVs.

Cho said that more than 300 South Koreans were among the detained.