South Korea Says Trump Asked Whether Detained Hyundai Workers Would Stay to Train Americans

South Korean officials said on September 11, 2025, that President Donald Trump encouraged U.S. officials to explore keeping detained South Korean workers in the United States so they could continue working on a Hyundai-linked battery project and train American employees. Seoul did not describe the account as a public presidential order requiring the workers to stay. Instead, the message was relayed through diplomatic discussions involving South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Nearly all of the South Korean workers returned home. The episode exposed a difficult intersection of U.S. immigration enforcement, the shortage of specialized personnel needed to launch advanced manufacturing facilities, and South Korea’s increasingly important role in American electric-vehicle and battery investment.

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What happened at the Hyundai-linked Georgia project?

Federal authorities carried out an immigration operation on September 4, 2025, at the HL-GA Battery Company project on Hyundai Motor Group’s Metaplant America campus in Ellabell, Bryan County, Georgia.

The Internal Revenue Service said Homeland Security Investigations executed a federal search warrant and identified hundreds of people allegedly working unlawfully. The Associated Press reported that approximately 475 people were detained.

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The location matters. The operation took place at the battery-project portion of the wider Hyundai Metaplant America campus, not simply at Hyundai’s completed vehicle assembly operation. The battery venture is associated with Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution and was being developed to support electric-vehicle manufacturing in Georgia.

The raid involved workers of multiple nationalities and employers. It would therefore be inaccurate to describe all of the detainees as South Korean nationals or as Hyundai employees. South Korea’s Foreign Ministry later said that 317 South Korean nationals were among those detained.

What did South Korea say Trump wanted?

According to South Korean officials, Trump encouraged U.S. officials to examine whether the skilled South Korean workers could remain in the United States temporarily. The stated purpose was for them to continue supporting the project and to educate or train American workers.

South Korean officials said Rubio conveyed that Trump had paused or delayed the workers’ release process while Washington sought Seoul’s view on the proposal. The Washington Post and Associated Press described the diplomatic explanation in similar terms.

That account should be stated carefully. The available reporting does not establish that Trump publicly ordered the workers to accept permanent jobs, nor does it provide a publicly released White House transcript confirming every detail of the private exchange. The most precise wording is that Seoul said Trump encouraged officials to explore whether the workers would stay to work and train Americans.

Trump’s broader public position was reported separately. Reuters said he argued that foreign companies building facilities in the United States should hire and train American workers while complying with U.S. immigration law. That message helps explain the policy logic attributed to the administration, but it does not independently verify the specific diplomatic account provided by South Korean officials.

How many workers returned?

South Korea negotiated with Washington for the workers’ release and return during September 5–7. Seoul sought a voluntary-departure process and asked that the workers not be handcuffed during departure.

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On September 11, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said:

• 316 of the 317 detained South Korean nationals agreed to return voluntarily.
• One South Korean worker chose to remain in the United States, according to Reuters reporting.
• Fourteen other foreign employees traveled on the charter flight with the South Korean returnees.

The 316 South Korean returnees were scheduled to arrive at Incheon International Airport on September 12, 2025. The return attracted intense attention in South Korea, particularly because video from the raid showed detainees restrained and because the operation affected a major South Korean investment project.

Why were the workers detained?

The central legal issue was not simply whether the workers had entered the United States legally. It was whether the activities they performed at the project were permitted under the immigration documents they held.

U.S. authorities said people at the site were barred from working because of unlawful entry, overstays, or violations of visa conditions. Attorneys representing detainees told Reuters that many workers appeared to have entered legally, including with B-1 business visas or through the visa-waiver program using ESTA.

A B-1 visa and ESTA authorization can permit certain business-related activities, but they do not generally function as unrestricted permission to take ordinary employment in the United States. The dispute centered on where the line fell between permissible technical business activity—such as installing equipment, launching a facility, or training personnel—and unauthorized employment or construction work.

The available sources do not establish one legal ruling that resolved the immigration status of every detainee. The case involved competing accounts from federal authorities, workers, attorneys, companies, and South Korean officials. Some individuals may also have had different visa histories and different duties at the site.

Why did the visa dispute matter to Hyundai’s battery operation?

Advanced manufacturing facilities often need specialized personnel during construction, equipment installation, commissioning, and early production. South Korean companies told officials that they had struggled to obtain suitable U.S. visas for short-term technical workers sent to help establish American facilities and train local employees.

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That created a practical problem for Hyundai and other foreign manufacturers. A company may invest billions of dollars in a U.S. factory and promise American jobs, but still need engineers, technicians, and equipment specialists who understand the parent company’s production systems. If the available visa categories do not clearly cover those assignments, companies can face a choice between delaying a project, attempting to use a business-visitor category, or risking an immigration-enforcement action.

South Korean officials sought clearer guidance for workers using existing business visas and discussed the possibility of creating a new visa category for Korean professionals supporting large U.S. investment projects.

That proposed solution would not necessarily eliminate enforcement disputes. A new category would still need rules defining eligible workers, permitted duties, project duration, employer relationships, compensation, and the transition from foreign technical staff to American employees.

The investment and automotive context

The raid came shortly after a U.S.-South Korea summit and during a period of major Korean investment in American manufacturing.

The affected battery project was a joint Hyundai Motor Group–LG Energy Solution venture. It formed part of the broader Hyundai Metaplant America development in Georgia, where Hyundai was investing heavily in electric vehicles and related battery production.

The Associated Press described the wider Hyundai facility as a $7.6 billion project with about 1,200 employees in its vehicle operation. Contemporaneous reporting described the battery expansion as a multibillion-dollar project expected to create substantial American employment as well.

For South Korea, the treatment of the workers was therefore more than an isolated immigration case. It involved the workforce behind a prominent Korean investment, the reliability of the U.S. operating environment, and the alliance’s economic relationship.

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South Korean President Lee Jae Myung warned that the incident could make Korean companies more reluctant to invest in the United States. The concern was not necessarily that companies would abandon every American project, but that unclear rules and highly visible enforcement actions could add risk to future investment decisions.

The policy contradiction exposed by the raid

The incident highlighted two goals that can collide in practice:

1. Enforce immigration and employment rules. The administration said foreign companies must comply with U.S. immigration law and hire American workers.
2. Attract foreign investment and build domestic manufacturing. The United States was also seeking Korean investment, electric-vehicle production, battery capacity, and the jobs connected with those facilities.

Foreign technical workers can be important to the second goal during a factory’s start-up phase, even when the long-term policy objective is to employ and train Americans. A company may need overseas specialists first in order to transfer knowledge to the U.S. workforce later.

The disagreement was therefore not only about the workers’ individual immigration documents. It also raised a broader question: Does U.S. immigration policy provide a clear, workable path for foreign specialists who temporarily install production equipment, launch factories, and train American employees?

What happened to the battery project afterward?

The raid temporarily disrupted work at the battery project. Later reporting said some South Korean workers returned to the Georgia site after U.S. authorities reissued visas.

The return of some personnel indicated that the commercial project continued rather than being abandoned. It should not be treated as proof that the original visa dispute was fully resolved for every worker, however. Reissued visas may address particular workers or assignments without creating a universal interpretation of what every business visitor may do at a U.S. manufacturing site.

The strongest longer-term consequence supported by the reporting was renewed pressure for clearer procedures governing foreign technical personnel assigned to American manufacturing projects. South Korean officials and business representatives advocated improved visa processing and a possible new visa category, while U.S. officials continued to emphasize immigration compliance and American worker training.

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What the episode means for Hyundai and other automakers

For automakers, battery companies, and equipment suppliers, the case illustrates several operational risks:

• Job title is not enough. Calling someone an engineer, consultant, trainer, or technician does not by itself determine whether the person is authorized to perform the assigned work.
• Entry permission and work permission are different questions. A worker can enter the United States lawfully and still face questions about whether the work performed is authorized under the relevant visa or ESTA admission.
• Start-up work needs advance planning. Equipment installation, commissioning, troubleshooting, production-line support, and employee training may involve different immigration considerations.
• Large investment announcements do not resolve visa mechanics. A multibillion-dollar project can still be delayed if the workforce needed to start it cannot legally enter or perform its duties.
• Enforcement risk can become diplomatic risk. When the project belongs to a major foreign investor, the treatment of workers can affect bilateral relations and future investment decisions.

The case does not establish that every foreign worker at a U.S. factory is unauthorized, nor that every company using B-1 visas or ESTA for technical personnel is violating the law. It demonstrates why companies need individualized legal review of each worker’s documents, role, duration, location, employer, and compensation.

Timeline

What is known—and what remains disputed?

Why this matters beyond one Georgia plant

The Hyundai raid became a test of whether the United States can simultaneously tighten immigration enforcement and rapidly expand domestic manufacturing with help from foreign investors.

American factories may ultimately employ thousands of local workers, but the first stages of building and starting those factories can depend on overseas specialists. If the rules for those assignments are unclear, enforcement can interrupt production before local workers have been trained.

South Korea’s response showed how quickly a workplace immigration case can become an alliance issue when it affects a flagship investment. The immediate result was the return of almost all the detained South Korean workers. The more lasting debate concerns whether U.S. visa policy should offer a clearer route for temporary technical personnel—and how that route can be designed without weakening protections for American workers or bypassing immigration law.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did Trump order the detained Hyundai workers to stay in the United States?

The available reporting does not show a public order. South Korean officials said Trump encouraged U.S. officials to explore whether the skilled workers would stay temporarily to continue their work and train American employees.

How many South Korean workers were detained in Georgia?

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said 317 South Korean nationals were detained. The overall federal operation involved approximately 475 people from multiple nationalities, so the total number of detainees was not the same as the number of South Koreans.

Why was the workers’ visa status disputed?

U.S. authorities alleged unlawful work, unlawful entry, overstays, or visa violations. Attorneys said many workers had entered legally with B-1 business visas or through ESTA. The dispute focused on whether their specific activities—such as equipment installation, commissioning, or training—were authorized.

Did the Hyundai-linked Georgia battery project shut down?

The raid temporarily disrupted work, but later reporting said some South Korean workers returned after U.S. authorities reissued visas. The project was not reported as permanently abandoned.

The Bottom Line

South Korean officials said Trump encouraged U.S. officials to consider keeping detained Hyundai-linked workers in Georgia so they could help finish the battery project and train Americans. Nearly all instead returned to South Korea, while the underlying dispute over B-1 visas, ESTA, technical work, and factory start-up personnel remained a significant issue for Korean investment and U.S. manufacturing policy.

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