SEOUL, Nov 14, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Some South Korean workers returned to a factory in the US state of Georgia, an industry source told AFP on Friday, after hundreds were detained at the site in an immigration raid.

US authorities arrested around 475 people, the majority South Koreans, when they raided the Hyundai-LG battery plant in September.

Those arrested had overstayed their visas or held permits that did not allow manual labour, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials alleged.

The operation was the largest single-site raid conducted under US President Donald Trump's sweeping immigration crackdown, a top political priority since he returned to office in January.

"A handful of South Korean workers have returned to a factory in Georgia recently," an industry source told AFP.

Most of the workers appear to be subcontractors at the factory, the source added.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported that three of the workers detained by ICE were seen re-entering the United States last month, citing the president of the Korean American Southeast Federation.

He said the workers had returned to Georgia "to complete their assignments despite having gone through detention".

The United States had agreed to let South Korean workers use B-1 visas to enter the country to install, service and repair equipment for investment projects, Seoul's foreign ministry said in September.

Most of those detained in the Georgia raid had been working on B-1 visas.

Seoul repatriated the workers after the incident, which President Lee Jae Myung called "bewildering" while warning that such actions could discourage future investment.

Trump appeared to distance himself from the episode, saying foreign workers sent to the United States were "welcome" and that he did not want to "frighten off" investors.