The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Folkston, Georgia, where Mr. Lee, an employee at the Hyundai Motor-LG Energy Solution battery plant construction site who was arrested during a U.S. immigration raid, is being held. Yonhap News. 

A South Korean national who was arrested on the 4th (local time) at the construction site of the Hyundai Motor Group-LG Energy Solution joint battery plant in Georgia, U.S., and chose to remain in the country rather than return to Korea, has been granted bail and will be released soon.

According to U.S. immigration court records on the 25th, Judge Kelly N. Sydnor of the Atlanta Immigration Court in Georgia granted bail to the South Korean national, identified by his surname Lee, following a bail hearing held that day.

Consequently, Mr. Lee, who is currently being held at the Folkston Immigration Detention Center in Georgia, will be able to undergo the remaining legal procedures while released, pending the payment of his bail.

A representative from the law firm "Nelson Mullins," which is representing Mr. Lee, told Yonhap News that he "will be released within 24 hours."

On the 4th, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other authorities raided the HL-GA battery plant, a joint venture between Hyundai Motor and LG Energy Solution, in Ellabell, Georgia, and arrested and detained 475 people, including approximately 300 South Koreans consisting of LG Energy Solution employees and subcontractors.

Of those arrested, 316 South Koreans and 14 foreign nationals returned to Korea on the 11th through voluntary departure. Mr. Lee, who is currently in the process of obtaining U.S. permanent residency, was the only one among the arrested Koreans to choose to remain in the U.S. and pursue further legal proceedings instead of returning home.

Local legal experts noted that the rapid granting of bail for Mr. Lee is highly unusual.

An immigration attorney remarked, "The Georgia immigration court is notorious for having a very high rate of deportation orders and a very low rate of bail approvals," adding, "It appears that the court took into account the fact that Mr. Lee is legally in the process of obtaining permanent residency and that he has family living in the U.S., which lowers the risk of flight."

Yonhap News