Workers land in Incheon 8 days after Georgia raid, reunite with families

South Korean workers who were detained in a Sept. 4 US immigration crackdown leave the arrival hall at Terminal 2 of Incheon International Airport, Friday. (Yonhap)

INCHEON — A total of 330 workers who were detained in a Sept. 4 US immigration crackdown landed in Incheon International Airport at 3:30 p.m., Friday, returning home eight days after being taken into custody.

After a 15 1/2-hour flight, the 316 Korean and 14 foreign workers disembarked wearing masks, where they were greeted by government and company officials, including presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik.

Among those returning to the country, no health issues were found, including with the one worker who was pregnant.

“I’m just really happy to be back home,” a male worker told The Korea Herald at the arrival gate of Terminal 2, Incheon.

“I just want to have a hot meal," said another when asked what the first thing he wanted to do. He said he stayed healthy and had no major health issues.

South Korean national who returned home after being detained in the US greets his family at the Incheon International Airport on Friday. (Yonhap)

At an impromptu press conference, Kang apologized to Korean workers who had been detained in the US, saying that he was “sorry for not being able to bring them back home sooner,” but that the government did its best to have them back as soon as possible. He also pledged to push forward improvements in the visa and residency status system.

"What may seem like the end of our work with the United States is, in fact, a new beginning. Going forward, the government will actively pursue improvements to the US visa issuance and residency system, including the creation of a new visa category mentioned by President Trump," he said.

“We will also look into providing psychological support to help those returning regain stability in their daily lives," Kang said.

The workers were released from a detention center in Folkston, Georgia, early Thursday, local time, a week after their arrest in a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid at an electric vehicle battery plant construction site run by a Hyundai Motor-LG Energy Solution joint venture in Bryan County, Georgia.

After being released without handcuffs, as agreed by Seoul and Washington, they boarded a chartered Korean Air flight about 430 kilometers from the detention center.

The release came a day later than initially planned as US President Donald Trump encouraged them to stay in the US and train American workers.

According to South Korea’s Foreign Ministry, all Korean workers were released from detention except one, who lives in the US with family. The worker is reportedly seeking permanent residency, with family members who are all green card holders.

Deputy Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo told reporters at Incheon Airport that the remaining Korean national intended to request bail through an attorney.

Others decided to return to Korea in the form of “voluntary departure” rather than deportation. The South Korean government asked that the detained workers not face disadvantages if they seek to reenter the US, a request Washington accepted, according to local media reports.

Most of the detained Korean workers were said to have been on B-1 temporary visitor visas or entered the US through a visa waiver program.

Washington has pledged that the South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid last week will face no penalties if they seek to reenter the US, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

Seoul and Washington also agreed to launch a joint working group on visa issues to avert a repeat of mass detention.