Trump admin rushes to mend ties with South Korea after Hyundai raid

The Trump administration is working to repair diplomatic relations with South Korea as the latter prepares to investigate alleged human rights violations during the detention of its nationals in a Hyundai facility in Georgia earlier this month.

Catch up: The diplomatic crisis began with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation at Hyundai’s battery plant in Ellabell on Sept. 4, where authorities detained 475 workers in the largest single-site enforcement operation in Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) history. Helicopters and armored vehicles swarmed at the site, prompting some to hide in air ducts and a sewage pond. After 316 of the 317 Korean workers returned home last Friday — one remained for immigration proceedings — detainees reported harsh conditions, including being forced to use and eat near open toilets.

What the U.S. is doing: Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau traveled to Seoul over the weekend and expressed “deep regret” over the incident, according to the South Korean Foreign Ministry, and proposed using it as “a turning point to improve the system and strengthen the South Korea-U.S. relationship.” For now, the U.S. has committed to establishing a “visa working group” with South Korea, with Landau assuring that the returned workers will face no disadvantage upon re-entry. President Donald Trump separately took to Truth Social Monday, declaring foreign workers are “welcome” and that he does not want to “frighten off or disincentivize investment into America by outside countries or companies.”

What South Korea is doing: Despite the diplomatic overtures, the South Korean Foreign Ministry announced Monday it would conduct a “full-scale investigation” into the legality of the workers’ arrests. More specifically, the probe seeks to determine the activities they were engaged in, the situation during the raid, those who were unjustly detained and the human rights potentially violated in the process.

The big picture: The incident, beyond immediate diplomatic tensions, exposes a significant policy gap: Despite maintaining a free trade agreement with South Korea since 2012, South Korea, unlike other U.S. partners, has never received a dedicated visa quota. This gap forces Korean companies to resort to inappropriate short-term business visas for skilled workers, creating legal uncertainty that enabled the mass detention. The timing is particularly damaging, as the raid occurred shortly after South Korea agreed to invest $350 billion in the U.S. amid broader trade negotiations.