ATLANTA — Channel 2 Action News has learned that a plane is now on its way to Atlanta to pick up the South Korean nationals detained in a massive immigration raid in South Georgia last week.
South Korean TV footage showed what it said was the charter plane taking off at Incheon International Airport, just west of Seoul, on Wednesday morning South Korean time. It is expected to land at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport by Wednesday afternoon local time. The plane will then return to South Korea with the detained workers on it by Thursday afternoon Korea time, media reports said.
A total of 475 workers, more than 300 of them South Koreans, were rounded up in the Sept. 4 raid at the battery factory under construction at Hyundai’s sprawling auto plant west of Savannah. Some were shown shackled with chains around their hands, ankles and waists in video released by U.S. authorities.
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South Korea’s government later said it reached an agreement with the U.S. for the release of the workers.
Only weeks ago, South Korea promised hundreds of billions of dollars in U.S. investments to reach a tariff deal. U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung held their first summit in Washington on Aug. 25.
Trump said this week the workers “were here illegally,” and that the U.S. needs to work with other countries to have their experts train U.S. citizens to do specialized work such as battery and computer manufacturing.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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