Force billions from Seoul, then raid Hyundai: Trump blasted for humiliating ally South Korea

A massive immigration raid at a Hyundai plant in Georgia has drawn outrage from investors, authors and former officials who accused the Trump administration of humiliating South Korea only weeks after forcing the country into a $350 billion investment deal.

US officials detained 475 people in the raid, including more than 300 South Korean nationals, claiming they were working illegally. The plant is one of the largest foreign investment projects in Georgia and is jointly operated by Hyundai and LG Energy Solution.

Investor and professor Adam Cochran said the arrests were heavy-handed and unjustified. They sent a military style convoy to arrest factory workers, Cochran said. "But only 1 of 457 people was on a B-1 visa, and was there for training. Of the arrests, South Korea has identified 300 of them as South Korean citizens which they say all had valid work visas. Now Hyundai and South Korea will be rethinking their $20B investment in new US manufacturing plants."

Cochran added that even the single worker on a B1 visa had complied with the rules. "Even the B1 guy was following the literal rules of his visa. But if he hadn’t been, just revoke their visas and send them home, and work with SK to figure out the visa issue. Don’t do a dumb military raid against middle aged polo wearing factory workers to humiliate allies. If you want people to invest in the US: -work with them on setting the right skilled labor caps; -don’t arrest people on valid visas just because they look foreign."

Author James Surowiecki called the move self-defeating. "Completely incredible," he wrote on X. "Lutnick and Trump brag about getting South Korea to invest billions in the U.S., then turn around and arrest South Koreans who were here temporarily in the U.S. to help Hyundai set up a factory in Georgia. The stupidity burns,” he wrote. He described the raid as “the perfect expression of the tension between Trump's desire to get foreign companies to invest in the U.S., and MAGA's hatred of foreigners. Unsurprisingly, the hatred of foreigners won out."

Richard Stengel, former Under Secretary of State, also criticised the action. "Let's see, you impose tariffs on a foreign government and pressure them to build a factory here, and then you arrest workers from that country who are constructing the factory. Does that seem like a good strategy?" he said.

South Korea's presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik said talks with Washington had secured the release of the detainees. He said a chartered plane would be sent to bring citizens home once paperwork was complete. Kang added that authorities were working to improve the visa system to prevent such incidents in future.

LG Energy Solution said many of the workers arrested had been on legitimate business trips with various visas or under a visa waiver program.

Trump announced a new trade deal with South Korea in July, which raised tariffs on Korean goods to 15% and compelled Seoul to commit $350 billion in US-controlled investments. "The Deal is that South Korea will give to the United States $350 Billion Dollars for Investments owned and controlled by the United States, and selected by myself," Trump posted on Truth Social.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, who took office in June, said his government had scrambled to reach an agreement before the deadline. "We just overcame a big challenge. Today's deal eliminated uncertainty in the export environment," he said on Facebook. He said $150 billion would go to shipbuilding while the rest would support semiconductors, batteries, biologics, and energy.