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Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA) located in Ellabell, Savannah, Georgia. (Photo courtesy of Hyundai Motor Company) |
[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] A Korean Air charter flight carrying more than 300 South Korean nationals detained by U.S. immigration authorities at Hyundai Motor Group–LG Energy Solution’s joint battery plant in Georgia is scheduled to arrive in Korea at 3:30 a.m. on September 11, after a 15-hour direct flight.
The large-scale repatriation comes amid growing concerns that construction of U.S. battery plants has ground to a halt due to a sudden labor vacuum, with industry experts warning of losses running into billions of won unless structural visa issues are resolved.
According to the airline and battery industry sources on September 10, Korean Air flight KE2901, a Boeing 747-8i with 368 seats, departed Incheon at 10:21 a.m. bound for Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport to pick up the detained workers. Most of those detained, along with three Japanese nationals, will return under a “voluntary departure” arrangement.
The detainees are being transported from ICE detention facilities in Folkston, Georgia—approximately a 4.5-hour drive from Atlanta—before boarding. Although the original return was planned for September 10 local time, the flight was delayed due to U.S. scheduling issues.
The incident has already disrupted multi-billion-dollar projects. Following the detention of over 300 Korean engineers and technicians, major Korean battery companies have suspended or scaled back U.S. construction activity. While a limited number of expatriates with L-1 visas remain on-site, progress has stalled.
LG Energy Solution is currently building four plants in the U.S., including in Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, and Ohio. SK On, which has largely completed construction in Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, is also at risk of delays as specialized equipment technicians face visa obstacles.
McKinsey estimates that suspending operations at a 50GWh plant results in daily losses of about USD 4 million. Applied to the 30GWh HL-GA facility, this translates to losses of at least KRW 3.3 billion (USD 2.5 million) per day, not including financing costs, overhead, and reputational damage.
Industry experts point to systemic visa challenges as the root cause. Despite more than a decade of Korean government lobbying for a dedicated E-4 technical visa quota, U.S. congressional approval has not materialized. Clarification on the applicability of business B-1 visas has also been hampered by strong domestic anti-immigration sentiment.
Most of the detained staff were Korean and Japanese specialists responsible for equipment installation and interior work—skills not readily available among local U.S. workers. The issue is further complicated by U.S. President Donald Trump’s previous condition that Korean companies train local American staff as part of deployment plans.
LG Energy Solution indicated it will consider dispatching replacement personnel once visa procedures are stabilized, though delays in approvals and recruitment mean that resumption of full construction could take significant time.
Alphabiz Reporter Paul Lee(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)
