The return of hundreds of South Korean workers who were arrested during immigration in the United States had been delayed, said civil servants in Seoul on Wednesday when frustration and anger with the Trump government began to assemble here.
It was unclear when a Koranian air flight that was previously flying from Atlanta on Wednesday would take off. However, the departure of the aircraft was delayed due to questions on the American side, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said without clarifying.
The pictures of armed US agents last week, the South Korean workers carry in handcuffs and ankle chains from a Hyundai LG battery system in Ellabell, Georgia, many in South Korea. Seoul tried to prevent the attack from unsettling the decades of alliance with Washington, a key to the safety of South Korea. And it endeavors to spread the tension by quickly negotiating the release of the workers and sent an airplane to pick them up.
But in a country in which people are known to take to anti-US protests on the streets, political hackles raised when they believe that their national pride was insulted by the Americans.
In the past few days, small groups of people have organized rallies near the US message in Seoul and criticized the way South Korean workers were treated.
“Why should we be treated like this when we provide the United States our technology, our money and our investments?” Kim Joon-Hyung, a legislator of the opposition, said during a parliamentary hearing on Monday.
Mr. Kim asked the government to visit all Americans in tourist visa and earn money by teaching English. He said he suspected that their number could be in “thousands or tens of thousands”. He asked the South Korean government briefly to record and deport it, but asked: “Isn't that illegal?”
On Wednesday, frustrated allies of President Lee Jae Myung expressed.
Lee Eun-Ju, a top member of the President's government democratic party, struck that South Korea would withdraw all of its Nationals, who work on investment projects in the United States, and would suspend all of his factories under construction until the security of South Korean employees is guaranteed.
Ms. Lee said that South Korea had valued his relationships with the United States and respected the international order led by America. But there is a limit, she said.
“It's just too much,” she said, referring to South Korean workers in bonds. The US message in Seoul did not immediately answer a request for a comment.
Many of the South Korean prisoners were recorded in the immigration and customs authorities in Folkston, GA. Private prison is impure to be poorly guided and uncomfortable, said Charles Kuck, an immigration lawyer based in Georgia who represents some of the prisoners.
“It's a prison,” he said.
Han Jae Lee, a lawyer based in Seoul, said that on Thursday he received a message from his brother -in -law, an engineer of the battery system, that he was examined by ICE. In the beginning, Mr. Lee did not think much about the message, since his brother-in-law had been granted a B-2 visa before he flew to the United States.
When he switched on the news, Mr. Lee saw pictures of South Korean workers in Georgia, where his brother -in -law landed.
“It was terrible to take my relatives and his colleagues away in handcuffs and ankle chains as if the US government was bragging about it,” he said. Mr. Lee said he was still unable to contact his brother -in -law and criticized both governments because he was not transparent.
“Our family still doesn't know what law he violates and what it was arrested for,” he said. “What I want now is that he returns to Seoul as soon as possible.”
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun flew to Washington on Monday to secure the release of the workers and to discuss opportunities for the protection of other South Korean companies from similar raids.
The detained workers had worked in Georgia to build a battery factory for electric vehicles that belonged together by Hyundai and LG Energy Solution, both South Korean companies. It is one of dozens of factories that have built or build South Korean production giants such as Samsung, Hyundai, SK and LG in the United States with the encouragement of both governments.
US immigration officers said that the South Koreans worked illegally there and undermined the opportunities of American citizens to find jobs.
Industry officers said that many of the imprisoned employees have arrived in the USA with short-term business visa or as part of a Visa reference program.
This was the easiest way for South Korean companies and subcontractors to involve specialists because it is difficult to find American workers when building batteries or secure long-term working visa for foreign workers as part of the Trump administration, according to South Korean officials, politicians and business people.
