Hundreds of South Koreans detained in a huge American immigration raid were released Thursday to start the return trip, Seoul said after warning that the “confusing” episode could have a scary effect on future investments.
The South Koreans constituted the majority of the 475 people arrested last week on a Hyundai-LG battery factory site in the state of Georgia, triggering a delicate effort to resolve the thorny situation between the nearby allies.
Seoul confirmed that the “liberation process was underway” for workers, who were to return to the south on an chartered plane to arrive at the house on Friday afternoon.
Photographs led by the Yonhap news agency have shown that the workers gathered around the buses, some have seen smiles and agitations after spending days in American detention.
South Korea is a security ally and a major investor for the United States, its best companies pouring billions into factories and development factories in America.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung qualified the “confusing” raid and noted that he could have a scary effect on future investments.
Lee blamed the raid with “cultural differences” saying that in South Korea, American nationals teaching English while on a tourist visa were not considered “a serious problem”.
After detention, South Korean companies “cannot help but wonder if the creation of a factory in the United States is worth potential risks,” said Lee.
“This could have a significant impact on future investment decisions, in particular when assessing direct operations feasibility in the United States,” he added.
Many South Korean companies have relied on the introduction of their own workforce during project development periods, industry sources indicating to AFP that it is common to use visa bypass to provide qualified work and avoid delays in project.
Lee said that for South Korean companies “when setting up facilities, equipment and factories, qualified technicians are essential”.
“Someone has to install the machines, and the necessary workforce simply does not exist locally in the United States,” he said, adding that companies have long been based on the creation of their engineers during short-term periods to train local workers.
“But now, even this basic request is rejected,” he said.
– Shock handcuffed –
Lee said Seoul negotiated with Washington “to ensure that visa issues for investment purposes works normally.”
This could include “securing additional quotas” or even create a new category of visa, he said, adding that he had confidence in “finding us a solution”.
“But in the current circumstances, Korean companies will have no choice but to hesitate to make direct investments in the United States,” he added.
The operation was the largest raid of a single site carried out since the American president Donald Trump launched a repression of radical immigration, a major political priority since his return to the post in January.
The raid occurred less than a month after Trump welcomed Lee in the White House.
The images of the South Korean workers chained and handcuffed caused a generalized alarm, and Seoul said that she had negotiated to ensure that the workers were no longer handcuffed because they were repatriated.
The RAID highlights unbalanced priorities in the Trump administration, which “actively brings large-scale production facilities while neglecting to train local workers,” said Kim Dae-Jong, business professor at the University of Sejong.
“Consequently, the South Koreans must form the local workforce. Logically, workers of both parties should be allowed to work together, not to be embarrassed to do so,” he told AFP.
But Cho Dong-Geun, professor emeritus of economics at the University of Myongji, warned that South Korean companies have long known visa problems.
“It is regrettable that there was no previous intervention to approach these questions in response to the anti-immigration program of President Trump, because he should have been acted faster.”
HS-CDL / CEB / JM
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