White House has apologised for the Georgia raid, Hyundai chief says

Hyundai CEO José Muñoz said on Wednesday that the White House personally called him to apologise for a major immigration raid at a company facility in Georgia.

Speaking at a business leaders’ conference in Singapore, Muñoz added that Georgia’s governor had also reached out, telling him: “I don’t know what happened — this isn’t under state jurisdiction.”

The September raid saw more than 300 South Korean employees detained at a Hyundai–LG battery plant, straining relations between Washington and Seoul. Workers were forced to sit on the factory floor as officers shackled their legs, prompting public anger in South Korea. They were held for over a week before being flown home following urgent talks between the two governments.

Hyundai warned at the time that the incident would delay the plant’s launch due to staffing shortages.

Speaking at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum, Muñoz said he believed someone had “made a phone call and made it appear there were illegal immigrants” at the facility — a claim he rejected as “absolutely not the case.” The raid was “a bad surprise,” he said, but stressed the company still plans to manufacture in the US.

Former President Donald Trump previously stated he was “very much opposed” to the operation, noting the US had an “understanding” with global partners about bringing in specialists to set up advanced facilities and train American workers.

Despite heightened tensions after the raid, Washington and Seoul announced a broad trade deal in October, which lowered reciprocal tariffs from 25% to 15% and included a pledge from South Korea to invest $350bn (£266.5bn) in the United States.