Hyundai CEO says White House called to apologize for Georgia detention

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Hyundai CEO says White House called to apologize for Georgia detention

Published: 19 Nov. 2025, 18:33

SARAH CHEA
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Hyundai Motor CEO Jose Munoz speaks during a Bloomberg New Economy forum held in Singapore on Nov. 19. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Hyundai Motor CEO José Muñoz said he received a phone call from the White House and was personally apologized to regarding the massive detention of Korean workers in a Georgia plant in early September.

“I got a phone call from the White House apologizing for what happened. They were not aware, they didn’t know why this was happening when the company, as part of Korea’s tariff negotiation, is really making big commitments to invest in the country,” Muñoz said during a Bloomberg New Economy forum held in Singapore on Nov. 19.

“There was a kind of independent activity from either the federal government or state government.”

Muñoz added that it appears that somebody made a phone call to the immigration authorities and made it look like there were illegal immigrants, which he said “absolutely not the case.”

“President Trump didn’t want those workers to get back to Korea. The fact is there are a number of jobs that require to be specialized and in particular, in the battery business, and a number of processes and technologies that are not available in a very well-developed country like the United States,” he said.

“And you need to bring specialized people to do it. The [U.S.] immigration system doesn’t recognize that.”

When he was asked if the incident had dented Hyundai’s commitment, the CEO strongly said “not at all.”

The United States is “the number one market, it’s where we make the most,” he said, adding that “We double down. We want to maintain our investment in the country.”

On Sept. 4, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested and detained 475 individuals, including 317 Korean nationals, who were working at a battery manufacturing plant, jointly run by Hyundai and LG Energy Solution, citing immigration violations.

During this process, images from ICE footage revealed Korean workers bound in handcuffs and chains. It took a week of detention and intergovernmental negotiations before the Korean workers were able to board a flight back home.

Following the incident, Korea and the United States have launched a working group to improve the visa system.

BY SARAH CHEA [[email protected]]