[Report] "It Was Like a 'Squid Game' Dormitory"... Korean Workers Return Home from U.S. Detention with Trauma

316 Arrive at Incheon Airport... Return Home After 8 Days
Handcuffs and Bread for Meals... "Shocked by Criminal Treatment"
Families Say, "We Will Never Send Them on U.S. Business Trips Again"
Partner Companies Urge, "Urgent Need to Guarante

"I don't think I can ever go to the United States again. Even traveling there scares me now." (A 50-year-old male worker previously detained by U.S. immigration authorities)
"After seeing my son handcuffed and treated like a criminal, I will never let him go on a business trip to the United States again." (Ms. Lee, a woman in her 70s whose son was detained)

At 3:24 p.m. on September 12, at Incheon International Airport Terminal 2, the wheels of a plane carrying 316 Korean nationals who had been detained by U.S. immigration authorities touched down on the runway. It had been exactly eight days since the workers at the Hyundai Motor-LG Energy Solution joint battery plant in Georgia were detained and finally set foot back on Korean soil.

The faces of the workers entering the airport arrival hall clearly showed the exhaustion from their ordeal over the past seven days. Wearing masks, the employees silently followed the designated path through the arrival hall.

At around 4 p.m. on the 12th, a Korean employee who was detained by the U.S. Immigration was reunited with family at the long-term parking lot of Incheon International Airport Terminal 2. The family welcomed him warmly while wiping away tears. Photo by Seongah Shim

Mr. A (male, 64), who said he had worked under the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) visa, explained, "The company didn't issue a work visa, and told me a travel visa would be fine, so I felt reassured. But getting arrested was a huge shock and left me with psychological trauma. I've often worked overseas before, but now I'm extremely anxious about any future departures or business trips." Another worker, Mr. Lee (male, 50), confessed, "It's unimaginable for an engineer to be arrested and detained just for doing his job."

According to their accounts, agents from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) suddenly stormed into the work area and pointed guns at the employees while they were working. The workers were handcuffed on their wrists, ankles, and even around their waists, and then taken to a detention facility. Even those with valid visas were not exempt from this treatment.

Mrs. Kim (35), the wife of an employee from a partner company, said, "My husband started his first day of work on the 4th and told me at 11:46 a.m. (Korean time) that he was going into a meeting. During the meeting, he left a message saying immigration officers had come to arrest undocumented workers and then disappeared. I wasn't worried because he had a 'B1' visa for business meetings, but after that, I couldn't reach him," she explained about the situation just before his detention.

During their time in detention, it was "just waiting, waiting, and more waiting." Mr. B (male, in his 60s) said, "Some people were interviewed several times, others only once or twice, and there was no consistency. During the interviews, they only asked simple questions, just confirming whether the visa matched the current situation."

Around 3 p.m. on the 12th, families of employees who were detained by the U.S. Immigration Service anxiously waited for the plane to arrive, looking toward the arrival hall at the long-term parking lot of Incheon International Airport Terminal 2. Photo by Shim Sunga

The workers initially placed in the detention facility were locked in rooms lined with bunk beds, resembling a camp. Around 100 people lived in each room. Some of those interviewed by ICE agents were later moved to four-person or two-person rooms. For all seven days of detention, the only food provided was water and bread that tasted only of flour.

Cho Youngil (44), who identified himself as an LG Energy Solution engineer, said, "For seven days, we were treated like criminals. I was in a two-person room, but since the toilet was inside, it was hard to eat anything, and it was a situation where our human rights were not protected."

A man in his 50s who requested anonymity said, "You can imagine the dormitory in the Netflix series 'Squid Game.' The food was so bad, I couldn't understand why they even bothered to give it to us."

After setting foot back in Korea, the workers were immediately transported to the fourth floor of the long-term parking lot, about a 10-minute drive from the airport. Family members and acquaintances were waiting there. As the elevator doors opened, voices calling out the names of the detained workers rang out from all directions. Cheers and applause broke out, and children ran up shouting "Dad!" Mothers who had been waiting anxiously with bouquets in hand were seen with tears in their eyes.

Around 4 p.m. on the 12th, families and acquaintances waiting for employees who were detained by the U.S. Immigration Service at the long-term parking lot of Incheon International Airport Terminal 2. Photo by Shim Sunga

Some families and acquaintances said they would never send their loved ones on business trips to the United States again. Ms. Lee (74), who rushed from Gangneung, Gangwon Province to Incheon International Airport from 9 a.m., said, "When I first got the call from the company, I thought it would just be a simple investigation, but I was shocked by how poor the detention facilities looked on the news. My son is a technician who has worked in the United States, China, Europe, and Vietnam. For this trip to the U.S., he wanted to send other workers, but since their visas were denied, he had to go himself because he already had a visa."

Yoon (40), who was anxiously waiting for his father-in-law, said, "If my father-in-law has to go abroad again, I can't stop him, but I will be very worried." Kim (64), who was reunited with his son, said firmly, "If the company tries to send him overseas again, I will make him quit his job."

Mrs. Kim, the wife of an employee at a partner company, said, "The final stages of the project have to be done by the people who have been working on it. If you bring in replacement workers, there will be a lot of errors and defects in the battery equipment, which makes the work more complicated and time-consuming. My husband said that for the final detailed work, these employees need to be brought back in, so I hope they can be guaranteed work visas so they can work legally and with confidence."

The head of a partner company, whose more than 10 workers were detained and have now returned to Korea, said, "The most urgent thing is to get them home as soon as possible. We'll have to gradually figure out how to send new personnel to the United States."