Hyundai Motor President José Muñoz said he would continue to pursue expansion in the U.S. market despite the arrest and detention of Korean workers in Georgia in September. He also said the White House personally apologized in connection with the case.
According to Bloomberg News on the 19th local time, Muñoz said at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore, "(The detention of Korean workers) was an unexpectedly bad event," but added, "We are reinforcing our investments, and we want to maintain our investment in this country. In the mid to long term, we expect the situation to improve."
In September, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raided the construction site of Hyundai Motor Group–LG Energy Solution's joint battery plant in Georgia and detained 317 Korean workers who entered on B-1 visas or through the visa waiver Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), treating them as illegal immigrants. During the process, ICE released images of Korean workers bound in handcuffs and chains, fueling skepticism about investment in the United States. The Korean workers were able to return home only after a week of detention through government-to-government negotiations.
At the forum, Muñoz said, "I received an apology call from the White House," and added, "The Georgia governor called me and said, 'I don't know what happened, but this is not under the state's jurisdiction.'"
He added, "It seems someone made a call to make it look like illegal immigrants were at the plant," and said, "That is absolutely not true."
He said the incident did not affect Hyundai Motor's investment in the United States, but that supply chain adjustments were necessary. He said, "Due to a labor shortage, plant construction will be delayed by at least two to three months." Bloomberg said, "As trade talks dragged on for months, the United States' hefty tariff on Korean products has already hit Hyundai Motor the hardest, compounding the difficulties."