South Korea Urges Release of Detained Nationals at Georgia Hyundai Plant

South Korea's foreign affairs minister, Cho Hyun, is meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio after nearly 300 South Korean nationals were detained by U.S. immigration officials last week at a Hyundai plant in Georgia.

The incident has prompted concerns for South Korean businesses investing in the U.S. "We cannot say specifically at this stage what the minister will discuss with Secretary Rubio," a ministry official told Yonhap, "but what we can say is that we are primarily focused on resolving the issue of our nationals in detention and ensuring their safe return home."

Federal law enforcement officials called the raid at the Georgia battery plant the "largest single-site enforcement operation in the history of Homeland Security Investigations." The operation took place at a Hyundai plant in Bryan County, Georgia, where 475 people - mostly South Korean nationals - were apprehended. Some of those present had entered the U.S. illegally, overstayed their visas, or did not have proper work permits.