Seoul’s top diplomat convenes meeting on mass detention of Koreans, weighs US trip
President Lee Jae Myung has ordered an “all-out response” to swiftly resolve the detention of more than 300 South Koreans in a US immigration raid at a construction site in Georgia being built by two South Korean conglomerates, Seoul’s top diplomat said Saturday.
Foreign Minister Cho Hyun conveyed Lee’s directive while presiding over the first meeting to discuss countermeasures for the largest-ever detention of Koreans, held at around 4:30 p.m. Saturday at the Foreign Ministry headquarters in Seoul.
US immigration authorities confirmed Friday that 475 people — most of them South Korean nationals — had been detained in one of the largest immigration enforcement raids. The operation was carried out Thursday at the construction site of a battery plant in Bryan County near Savannah, Georgia, being built by HL-GA Battery Company, a joint venture between Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution.
During the meeting, Cho disclosed that the South Korean government estimates more than 300 South Koreans were among the 457 people detained during the operation by US agencies, including Homeland Security Investigations and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Cho ordered meeting attendees to make all-out efforts, including active consular assistance, and instructed them to actively review staff reinforcement, including dispatching a swift response team, reiterating Lee’s directive, the Foreign Ministry in Seoul said in a statement after the meeting.
“The President emphasized, immediately after the incident became known, that the rights and interests of our nationals and the economic activities of Korean companies investing in the US must not be unjustly infringed in the course of US law enforcement,” Cho said at the start of the meeting.
“The President also directly instructed that an all-out response be taken for the swift resolution of this matter, centering on the Korean Embassy in the United States and the Consulate General in Atlanta,” Cho told attendees.
The meeting was attended by senior officials at the ministry’s headquarters, including the first and second vice foreign ministers and representatives from related diplomatic missions.
After the meeting, the Foreign Ministry in Seoul said it plans to “actively consider trips to the US by high-level government officials to ensure close communication with the US side.”
Cho also hinted at the possibility of his own trip to the US while expressing “deep concern and a grave sense of responsibility” during the meeting.
“We plan to discuss the option of promptly dispatching high-level officials from the ministry’s headquarters, as well as the option of myself directly visiting Washington to discuss the matter with the US administration, if necessary,” Cho said.
The meeting came after the Foreign Ministry established the Headquarters for the Protection of Overseas Koreans, with Cho serving as its head, at around 1:40 p.m. on Saturday, which Cho explained was done “in light of the gravity of the matter.”
The Foreign Ministry has taken action at various levels to secure the release of more than 300 Koreans — an unprecedented scale of detention by US immigration authorities.
Cho Ki-joong, consul general at the Korean Embassy in Washington, was urgently dispatched to the site on Friday, where he established an on-site countermeasure task force and is leading an all-out response together with the Consulate General in Atlanta.
The Consulate General in Atlanta has been maintaining continuous communication with local authorities and the state government.
Second Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jina conveyed South Korea’s concerns and regrets to Acting US Ambassador Joseph Yun at the US Embassy in Seoul on Friday, while requesting that special attention be given to ensuring that the legitimate rights and interests of South Korean nationals are not infringed upon.
The Korean Embassy in Washington also delivered the same message in a timely manner to the US Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security, and other relevant agencies.
“We ask the Embassy in Washington and the Consulate General in Atlanta to make every effort to swiftly provide the necessary consular assistance to our detained nationals while continuing to communicate with the US authorities,” Cho Hyun said during the meeting.
“The Foreign Ministry also intends to respond comprehensively, working in close coordination with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, business associations, and companies,” he added.
Steven Schrank, the lead Georgia agent of Homeland Security Investigations, said during a news conference Friday that the raid followed a monthslong investigation into allegations of illegal hiring at the battery plant under construction.
In 2023, Hyundai Motor and LG Energy Solution formed a joint venture and began building the first plant at the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America site with a $4.7 billion investment. Scheduled for completion next year, the facility is expected to produce about 30 gigawatt-hours of batteries annually — enough to power 300,000 high-performance electric vehicles.
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