South Korean Workers Affected By US Immigration Operations Planned To Return To Seoul On Wednesday

JAKARTA - South Koreans detained in US immigration operations last week are likely to be repatriated to Ginseng Country on Wednesday by chartered plane, a Seoul official said on Sunday, while the presidential office said negotiations for their release had been completed.

Consul General at the South Korean Embassy in Washington Cho Ki-joong delivered the statement at a press conference at a detention center in Folkston, Georgia, where about 300 South Korean nationals were detained following a Thursday raid on the construction site of an electric vehicle battery factory operated by a joint venture company Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution in Bryan County.

"(We) estimate around Wednesday, (they may be able to board the plane)," Cho said at the Folkston Immigration and Customs Processing Center (ICE).

After being released, they are expected to be transferred to Tokyo International Airport in Florida, about 50 minutes of a bus trip from the Folkston facility.

"During our technical discussion on the operation of chartered aircraft, the closest wasframe International Airport," Cho explained.

Diplomats from the Consulate General in Atlanta and other Seoul representatives have met South Korean nationals at the detention center, examined health and other conditions. Consulting consultants with them, including those in special women's facilities, are expected to be completed on Sunday local time.

"I met them at a restaurant where they gathered," said Cho.

"They're all fine. Of course, they're not comfortable at home," he said.

He underlined that Seoul is doing its best to ensure those wishing to return home can return to Korea "as soon as possible."

As previously reported, the Presidential Office in Seoul on Sunday said that as soon as administrative procedures were completed, chartered aircraft would head to the US to repatriate those affected by immigration operations in Uncle Sam's country.

In the raid, 475 people, including about 300 Koreans, were arrested. ICE stated that they were caught working illegally in the United States, including those holding short-term visas or recreational visas that prohibited them from working.

US officials called last week's raid "the law enforcement operation in one of the largest locations in the history of Homeland Security Investigation."