The recent U.S. detention of about 300 South Korean workers at a manufacturing plant in the state of Georgia has sparked shock and anger across South Korea, with the government working to secure the safe return of those detained. The U.S. immigration authorities detained 475 people, including about 300 South Koreans, following a raid on Sept 4 at an electric vehicle battery plant construction site operated by a joint venture between Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution, Xinhua News Agency reported. A U.S. attorney said Friday that the goal of the operation was "to reduce illegal employment and prevent employers from gaining an unfair advantage by hiring unauthorized workers" and "to protect unauthorized workers from exploitation," according to Xinhua. South Korean officials and public are deeply unhappy with both the scale of the U.S. immigration arrests and the decision to release the footage of the operation, which showed images of armored vehicles and South Korean workers in shackles. The South Korean Foreign Ministry has promised to protect those caught up in the raid and is now arranging a chartered flight to bring them back home as early as this week. Officials stressed that the goal is to ensure the workers face no long-term disadvantages if they return to the United States. There has also been some confusion about whether the detainees are being "deported," which could bar them from entering the U.S. again for an extended period of time, or whether they are consenting to leave voluntarily. South Korean consular officials said they have conducted face-to-face meetings with all 300 or so detained citizens. The fallout is already rippling through South Korea's biggest investors in the United States. Hyundai Motor has asked most of its staff to suspend non-essential trips to the U.S., while LG Energy Solution is recalling employees and pausing construction at the Georgia plant where the arrests took place. Shotlist: Seoul, South Korea - Sept 9, 2025: 1. Various of newspaper showing images of arrested South Korean workers in shackles; people reading newspaper in street-side window; 2. SOUNDBITE (Korean) Kim Hye-Kyoung, South Korean resident: "If they were staying illegally without the proper paperwork, the normal procedure should have been to inform them first and help them return home in a proper way. But this time, our people were detained in such a shocking and improper way. I think this issue really needs to be resolved through diplomacy."; 3. Various of traffic, building of South Korean Foreign Ministry; 4. SOUNDBITE (Korean) Kim Young-Ho, South Korean resident: "I can't help but feel there's a tendency to look down on our country. The media keeps saying diplomatic relations are going well, but when you just see things like this, the reality tells a different story."; 5. Various of building of U.S. Embassy in South Korea, U.S. national flag, U.S. emblem; 6. Traffic, Gwanghwamun Gate; 7. Various of pedestrians. [Restriction - No access Chinese mainland]