Link to article: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20250911_20/
Additional research: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20250909_N01/
In this article 300 South Koreans out of 475 people were detained in the United States by ICE during an immigration raid at a South Korean factory in Georgia. The South Korean workers and technicians entered the US without proper paperwork and are now being released and sent back to South Korea this week. The raid was located at a battery plant that is being built by two South Korean firms. Because of the situation at hand, South Korean companies are now hesitating to invest in the United States and South Korean president Lee Jae-myung wants to negotiate with the US considering this conflict.
As I know South Korea and the United States have a positive relationship with each other, I am wondering why the South Korean workers were sent illegally to the US. Hyundai has backed out of coming back to the US as well as South Korea’s unsure continuation of the investment in the US. This alliance is an important one for the US because they need allies in east Asia, so I wonder what it will come down to. Although there is not much more information yet, I strongly agree with sending the workers back to South Korea considering they entered illegally.
South Korean president Lee Jae-myung is saying that building a factory like this requires technicians and the US will not let the South Korean workers get visas to stay and finish their work. President Donald Trump thinks ICE did the right thing in sending them back home because they came to the US illegally. He wants to bring in experts to help train people in the US to work on the factory themselves. President Lee wants to negotiate the situation with President Trump in order to figure out the situation on hand and keep good terms.
This situation is related to class because it involves a conflict between two countries that are allies and they are willing to make a deal and negotiate to fix the issue. This is considered a MNC because it involves a multinational corporation, Hyundai Motor.