Thread by @ChrisO_wiki

1/ South Korea's government has announced that it is launching an investigation into human rights abuses said to have been carried out by the United States' ICE agency against South Korean workers deported from Georgia, following further damaging testimony from the deportees. ⬇️

2/ The government said today that it "plans to immediately begin a joint investigation involving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, and the company regarding the human rights violations against our citizens detained in the US state of Georgia."

3/ "To this end, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is currently consulting with the company representatives." An official says it "will need to discuss specific investigation methods with the company representatives ... We expect to begin as soon as preparations are complete."

4/ The Ministry of Justice will also participate in the investigation, once it has consulted on who will be invited to contribute.

5/ It's likely that the authorities will seek to interview the detained workers individually to obtain their accounts, as it did not previously have the opportunity for individual discussions during consular visits to the detainees.

6/ An official says that consular representatives "met with 50 people at a time, and the focus was on urgent matters, so there likely wasn't enough time for each individual to fully express their concerns."

7/ The government has already said that it will take unspecified action against the US if the full investigation identifies human rights violations against its citizens. It is under pressure from the public and media to hold the US government to account over the incident.

8/ Kwak Tae-hwan, former president of the Korea Institute for National Unification, writes that the sight of the workers "being transported in handcuffs and shackles shocked South Korean society, and anti-American sentiment is rapidly spreading."

9/ "This incident is not simply an immigration enforcement matter. It is a grave diplomatic matter that tests the dignity and diplomatic trust of the citizens of an ally.

10/ "The US government cannot help but question whether it is justifiable to treat its allies with such disregard and inhumane treatment...

11/ "[E]ven the most basic courtesy toward allies has been neglected. Diplomacy cannot function solely on laws and institutions. Without mutual respect and trust, an alliance is nothing more than a shell."

12/ Kwak calls for Trump to apologise, for "the victims' honor [to] be restored and their reentry must be guaranteed", for a short-term technician visa arrangement to be implemented, and for human rights protections to be implemented in the US's alliance agreements.

13/ Politicians have also called for similar steps. The South Korean government has said that the US has agreed to erase the deportees' detention records so that their future return is not prohibited.

14/ South Korean public opinion has come out strongly against the US government's actions. In a survey, 59.2% of respondents said they were "disappointed by the US government's excessive measures."

15/ 30.7% said they "understood the US government's actions as unavoidable," while 10.2% said they were "not sure."

South Korean Internet users have denounced the US government and announced their cancellation of Tesla orders in favour of equivalent Korean electric vehicles.

16/ Although Hyundai says it wants to continue with building out its planned Georgia plant, the newspaper JoongAng says that it will be difficult to persuade the deported workers – many of whom are elite specialists – to risk another trip to the US.

17/ The paper reports that the ICE raid "occurred during the equipment installation and commissioning preparation stages of the factory construction. Typically, Korean engineers operate the equipment, make fine adjustments, and train local engineers before withdrawing."

18/ "However, this time, the raid stopped [work] at the commissioning stage. Some of the equipment uses special construction methods that require only the most elite team members from partner companies to set up, making [finding] replacement personnel virtually impossible." /end

Sources:
🔹 yna.co.kr/view/MYH202509…
🔹 hani.co.kr/arti/politics/…
🔹 hani.co.kr/arti/opinion/b…
🔹 busan.com/view/busan/vie…
🔹 chosun.com/economy/econom…