US backpedals as Hyundai factory ICE raid enrages South Korea

Analysis On Sunday, President Trump took to his personal social media channel to calm a growing diplomatic storm with one of America's closest allies, South Korea.

"When Foreign Companies who are building extremely complex products, machines, and various other 'things,' come into the United States with massive Investments, I want them to bring their people of expertise for a period of time to teach and train our people how to make these very unique and complex products, as they phase out of our Country, and back into their land," the president posted on Truth Social, adding “I don’t want to frighten off or disincentivize Investment into America by outside Countries or Companies. We welcome them, we welcome their employees, and we are willing to proudly say we will learn from them.”

That post referred back to the September 4 raid that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conducted at a site jointly operated by Hyundai and LG Electronics in Georgia, where the Korean companies build batteries and electric cars. Korean workers were present at the site to train American staff.

ICE made 475 arrests during the raid, including more than 300 South Korean nationals – many of whom claimed they held valid visas that allowed them to work in the USA – and paraded shackled Korean workers in front of TV news cameras.

Seeing their countryfolk shackled and imprisoned enraged many in South Korea, where opinion writers wrote angry columns that appeared under headlines like “Imperial Tyranny, Korea's Humiliation.”

South presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung told local media the government was reviewing the incident to determine whether any human rights violations occurred.

A model project in trouble

US trade policy calls for foreign companies to manufacture their products on American soil, a goal Georgia’s Republican governor Brian Kemp spent years pursuing by wooing investment from the Korean giants in the hope it would boost the local economy and create high-skilled, high-wage jobs.

But that ambition now looks harder to realize, as work on the battery plant halted after the ICE raid.

“We are continuing to monitor the situation and preparing to resume construction once we have more clarity on visa guidelines, etc,” an LG spokesperson told The Register. “As we have been aiming to start production at HL-GA Battery Company next year, we will commit efforts to minimize the impact on our business.”

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Other Asian giants that have already committed to building factories in the US, including Samsung and TSMC, are doubtless aware of the incident and are considering the impact on their own stateside operations.

In other fields, some already feel that they can attract talent who may no longer feel welcome in the US.

European universities are actively wooing academics to their shores. China too is trying to convince scientists and tech pros to come to the country with a new class of visa.

Incidents like the raid at the Hyundai/LG plant will likely undermine the USA’s policy of restoring national manufacturing prowess and capability, despite President Trump’s attempt at reassurance and Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau reportedly expressing “deep regret” over the incident. ®