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Unshackled and in high spirits, Korean workers depart detention facility for Atlanta airport

Published: 11 Sep. 2025, 18:44 Updated: 11 Sep. 2025, 19:12

Workers who were confined at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Folkston, Georgia, wave at reporters as they leave the center on Sept. 11 after seven days of detention. [YONHAP]

WASHINGTON — A week after their initial confinement, 316 Korean workers arrested in Georgia on Sept. 4 were finally released early Thursday morning after being detained at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Folkston, following a raid at the construction site of a joint battery plant of LG Energy Solution and Hyundai Motor Group in Ellabell.

A total of 317 Koreans — 307 men and 10 women — were released. One chose to remain in the United States rather than return home. The rest of the 316 departed on a charter flight alongside 14 foreign nationals — 10 from China, three from Japan and one from Indonesia — who had been working at the plant.

No handcuffs per Korea's request

The workers began boarding buses at around 1:30 a.m. and appeared in good spirits, waving at reporters and shaking hands with Cho Ki-joong, Korea’s consul general in Washington, who had overseen the on-site negotiations. Many were still wearing the work clothes they had on at the time of their arrest by heavily armed ICE agents.

The detainees boarded the buses for about 40 minutes before departing directly for the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, where the charter plane was waiting. U.S. authorities did not use handcuffs or other restraints during transport, avoiding a repeat of Koreans being publicly treated as criminals in an allied nation while under a bright global media spotlight.

“Despite strict escort regulations, President Donald Trump ordered that our nationals be transferred from the detention facility to the airport without handcuffs or restraints as we strongly requested,” a Foreign Ministry official said in Washington.

Koreans and citizens of other nations are released from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Folkston, Georgia, on Sept. 11, after seven days of confinement. [YONHAP]

'Trump requested the delay'

The official added that the previous day’s abrupt cancellation of the workers’ return, which was initially scheduled for Wednesday, was not over the issue of restraints but because Trump "asked them to remain.”

“President Trump ordered the suspension of the return procedures to hear Korea’s position on whether the detained Koreans — all skilled workers — should remain in the United States to continue working and training American staff, or return home,” the official said.

At the White House on Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Marco Rubio relayed Trump’s views to Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun.

“Our people are deeply shocked and exhausted, so it is best for them to first return home and then later come back to work in the United States,” Cho responded, according to the ministry. The release and repatriation procedures resumed the following day.

Buses wait for workers who were kept under detention at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Folkston, Georgia, to leave the facility after a week of confinement on Sept. 11. [YONHAP]

'No disadvantages from detention'

Cho said after meeting Rubio for 21 minutes and then separately meeting Andrew Baker, deputy national security adviser to the vice president, he received confirmation that the workers "will face no obstacles in returning to the United States to work and will suffer no disadvantages from this incident.”

“We understood President Trump’s remarks about allowing the workers to stay and work as meaning there will be no disadvantages,” added a Foreign Ministry official. “Since entry decisions are based on records of unlawful presence, it is important that no such records remain.”

The ministry explained that it sought U.S. cooperation to ensure that even those who voluntarily departed would not have records of unlawful presence.

Personal belongings of workers who were kept in detention at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Folkston, Georgia, are organized by staff at LG Energy Solution and Hyundai Motor Group on Sept. 9. [YONHAP]

Room for controversy remains

Still, doubts remain. Asked whether the workers admitted to unlawful presence, a Foreign Ministry official said that they did not, "to their knowledge."

“Many of the workers had B-1 business visitor visas or used the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), but we do not agree that their activities violated visa purposes," said the official.

When asked whether the United States had expressed regret or offered an apology, the official said, “No. The U.S. position is that it was lawful enforcement.” Until Trump’s intervention, U.S. authorities had not given a clear answer on whether the workers would be handcuffed.

“It has been confirmed that there are no disadvantages if their current visas remain valid, but specific cases involving ESTA require further discussion,” said another Foreign Ministry official, noting that Rubio would be the counterpart for such talks.

“Because the workers will need to go through interviews at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul to obtain new visas, this incident could complicate the issuance of new ESTA or B-1 visas," said immigration lawyer Lee Chang-hwan. "And because entry decisions are ultimately made by Customs and Border Protection, not the State Department, there is a possibility of different outcomes.”

A chartered Korean Air plane waits to bring Korean workers back home on Sept. 10 at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport [YONHAP]

Costs to be shared by companies

The workers will depart from Atlanta International Airport, approximately 430 kilometers (267 miles) from the detention facility, aboard a chartered Korean Air Boeing 747-8i, a long-haul aircraft with more than 368 seats.

After a flight of approximately 15 hours and 30 minutes, they are expected to arrive at Incheon International Airport at around 2 p.m. Friday, Korea time.

The charter cost, estimated at around 1 billion won ($720,000), was borne by LG Energy Solution, while Hyundai Engineering paid for the buses that transported the workers from the detention facility to the airport.

“The principle of corporate responsibility applies in this case, so the companies that dispatched the workers are covering the costs,” a government official said.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KANG TAE-HWA [[email protected]]