1/ Shocking new testimonies reveal systematic torture-like abuse at Georgia ICE facility on Korean workers: pregnant woman fearing for unborn child, handcuff burns, forced medical injections without consent, and staff neglecting workers having seizures and medical collapses.
2/ Yonhap News TV obtained exclusive photos showing a Korean worker's wrist from the Georgia detention facility. The images reveal clear red burn marks caused by handcuffs/cable ties. Worker testified that "quite a few people" suffered similar injuries. yonhapnewstv.co.kr/news/MYH202509…
3/ Testimonies also reveal forced medical procedures. One worker claims that during health checks before formal facility admission, despite refusing all tests, facility staff forcibly administered a tuberculosis injection against their will.
4/ "After receiving the jab, my skin swelled up and I was very anxious." Another said: "I remember a friend among us whose arm swelled up after getting injected. He said he didn't know what it was and got the shot. He said they stabbed him with a needle in upper left wrist area."
5/ Medical emergencies were allegedly ignored by facility staff. A worker collapsed due to worsening chronic sleep disorders, with symptoms deteriorating during detention, eventually leading to serious breathing difficulties. Staff apparently just watched, did nothing.
6/ Meanwhile, MBC revealed that a pregnant Korean engineer was among those detained in what she describes as torture-like conditions. She was working on computer tasks in the factory office when ICE agents forcibly took her away without explanation.
7/ The pregnant engineer held a legal B1 visa specifically for battery equipment installation work. She was scheduled to return to Korea this very week after completing her assigned work at the facility. imnews.imbc.com/replay/2025/nw…
8/ She was arrested on charges of illegal residence and held in the detention facility in a red prison uniform. She testified: "I appealed that my visa was still valid, but they didn't even pretend to listen."
9/ Detention conditions were horrific: over 30 people were crammed into a single room with just 3 sinks and 4 toilets in an open area. Privacy was non-existent, creating degrading conditions for female detainees "who were menstruating".
10/ When she informed guards she was pregnant, they only responded that she *would be* moved to "a room with slightly better conditions". She witnessed another female detainee having seizures and being neglected, fearing for her own unborn child should a medical emergency happen.
11/ "I really thought they were going to kill someone, and I was terrified," she said. "I was so shocked that I wasn't having morning sickness anymore and worried something had happened to my baby."
12/ Food was apparently completely inedible. "Even the bread smelled bad and sour," she said. "I couldn't eat it."
13/ Only after returning to South Korea and getting checked at a hospital could she finally breathe a sigh of relief when she learned that her baby was healthy. She says she has nightmares every night now, and "really wants to sue... in the country of lawsuits".
14/ South Korea's foreign ministry has announced it will investigate these abuse cases and will raise issues with the US if necessary. The mounting physical evidence and testimonies paint a picture of systematic human rights violations at the ICE facility.
1/ A repatriated Korean worker from the Hyundai-LG battery factory secretly wrote a detention diary about their 7-day experience in ICE custody in Georgia. The worker says ICE officers mocked them with words like as "North Korea" and "Rocket Man" despite holding a business visa.
2/ The worker held a B1 visa for a 2-month work meetings and training trip. They were body-searched while wearing hard hat and safety boots at 10am on 4 September. ICE gave arrest warrant forms at 1:20pm with no explanation and no Miranda rights were read.
3/ "The workers thought that completing the forms would lead to release," the worker wrote, which was shared with Yonhap News. Red wristbands were placed on workers after they submitted forms. They secretly messaged his family saying "contact might be cut off".
1/ UPDATE regarding Google's Korean map saga: Google announced today it will remove latitude/longitude coordinates for ALL *South Korean* locations from Google Maps globally IF granted mapping data permission from the Korean gov. Not just sensitive sites but the entire territory.
2/ This goes far beyond Google's previous offer to blur sensitive facilities. The transport ministry has confirmed to me that they did indeed make this request for "national security" reasons but did not elaborate on the specifics. theguardian.com/world/2025/aug…
3/ It remains unclear what this will mean in the long run for users. While right-clicking and displaying coordinates is not a core functionality for most, it could possibly complicate third-party app dev, OSINT, etc.
Would be curious to hear from others what this would mean!
1/ S. Korea's entire media establishment across political spectrum has united in unprecedented editorial consensus expressing profound betrayal, outrage, national humiliation, and fundamental breach of US-ROK alliance re: mass arrest of Korean workers at Hyundai's Georgia plant.
2/ The general sentiment: while Korean media occasionally unite on domestic issues, these are usually severely politicised. Here, the level of scorn spanning from conservative establishment to progressive outlets is extraordinarily rare. They are furious.
3/ Chosun Ilbo (flagship conservative): Scathing language calling this a "merciless arrest operation" that represents something "that cannot happen between allies" and a "breach of trust." Notes Trump personally thanked Hyundai's chairman just months ago. chosun.com/opinion/editor…
1/ Something that's not being reported much re: ICE crackdown at Hyundai-LG Georgia battery factory: Korean companies investing billions cannot get proper visas, are then criminalised for bringing skilled workers to fill gaps American labour cannot.
Chosun Ilbo: "Built tens of trillions [KRW] factories for America... to then get slapped as illegal immigrants."
News1: "Told us to invest, then treated us as illegal immigrants." This isn't about law, it's about perceived duplicity.
3/ One of the core issues is that S. Korea has no country-reserved work visa. By contrast, Australia for instance gets E-3 (10,500/year) and Singapore/Chile get H-1B1 (5,400/1,400). Korea has neither, despite FTA status and massive investment commitments. koreatimes.co.kr/business/compa…
US authorities have reportedly detained 450 workers at Hyundai-LG battery plant construction site in Georgia yesterday, including over 30 South Koreans said to have legitimate visas. Seoul has expressed concern and says Korean nationals' rights "must not be unjustly violated."
The detained South Koreans at the Ellabell facility are said to be on B1 business visas or ESTA waivers for meetings and contracts. Foreign Ministry has dispatched consuls to the scene and "conveyed concerns and regrets" to the US embassy in Seoul. en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN202509…
Both Hyundai and LG Energy Solution are said to be "actively cooperating with authorities" to secure staff release. The raid raises concerns about potential disruptions to other major Korean projects including Hyundai's planned Louisiana steel mill and Georgia EV expansion.
1/ A South Korean parliamentary committee has passed expanded special prosecutor laws that would mandate live TV broadcasts of ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law trial, citing "public interest" in seeing proceedings for "grave state crimes". yna.co.kr/view/AKR202509…
2/ The laws target three major issues/ongoing investigations: Yoon's December martial law attempt (insurrection), corruption allegations against his wife Kim Keon Hee, and the controversial death of a marine during flood rescue operations.
3/ Under the new provisions, Yoon's insurrection trial would be broadcast live and mandatory for first-instance proceedings. The other two cases could be broadcast if requested. Exception: broadcasts can be paused if both Yoon and prosecutors agree. news1.kr/politics/assem…