In light of the immigration enforcement raid on a Hyundai plant in Georgia last week, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Thursday issued a warning to the United States.
The raid saw hundreds of South Korean workers shackled and detained, straining diplomatic relations between Washington and Seoul, a key U.S. ally. Currently, 316 South Korean nationals and 14 others are in the process of being transported back to their country.
At a press conference, Lee said South Korean companies may think twice before establishing factories in the United States going forward, unless Washington improves the visa process for South Koreans.
“Under the current circumstances, Korean companies will be very hesitant to make direct investments in the United States,” Lee said, according to United Press International. “Companies will have to worry about whether establishing a local factory in the United States will be subject to all sorts of disadvantages or difficulties,” which “could have a significant impact on future direct investment.”
“It’s not like these are long-term workers,” the South Korean president observed, per the Associated Press. “When you build a factory or install equipment at a factory, you need technicians, but the United States doesn’t have that workforce and yet they won’t issue visas to let our people stay and do the work.”
Earlier this week, South Korean businesses reportedly suspended at least 22 projects in the United States in reaction to the raid.
“Korean workers are being treated like criminals for building factories that Washington itself lobbied for,” one executive in Seoul told The Korea Economic Daily. “If this continues, investment in the U.S. could be reconsidered.”
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