South Korean workers held in US immigration crackdown head for home

South Korean workers who were detained in the US in a massive immigration raid at a Hyundai plant in the state of Georgia are set to fly home on Wednesday, reports say.

A chartered plane will leave the US at about 14:30 local time (18:30 GMT) on Wednesday, according to Reuters news agency.

South Korean television showed a charter plane taking off from Incheon International Airport on Wednesday morning. It will reportedly return to South Korea with the detained workers on Thursday.

The BBC has contacted South Korea’s foreign ministry for comment.

This comes as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is due to meet South Korea’s foreign minister Cho Hyun at the White House on Wednesday morning.

Before leaving for Washington on Monday, Cho said he would work with the US to prevent a repeat of the incident.

Last week, US officials detained 475 people – more than 300 of them South Korean nationals – who they said were working illegally at the battery facility, one of the largest foreign investment projects in the state.

A worker at the plant spoke to the BBC about the panic and confusion during the raid. The employee said the vast majority of the workers detained were mechanics installing production lines at the site, and were employed by a contractor.

South Korea, a close US ally in Asia, has pledged to invest tens of billions of dollars in America, partly to offset tariffs.

The timing of the raid, as the two governments engage in sensitive trade talks, has raised concern in Seoul.

The White House has defended the operation at the Hyundai plant, dismissing concerns that the raid could deter foreign investment.

On Sunday, US President Donald Trump referenced the raid in a social media post and called for foreign companies to hire Americans.

The US government would make it “quickly and legally possible” for foreign firms to bring workers into the country if they respected its immigration laws, Trump said.