On the 24th, Foreign Minister Jo Hyun met with Brian Kemp, the Governor of Georgia, USA, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Jongno-gu, Seoul. [Provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.]
[Herald Economy = Reporter Kim Hyun-il] It has been confirmed that following the incident in September where Korean workers were detained in Georgia, USA, multiple Korean companies have withdrawn or postponed their planned investment projects in the United States.
On the 1st, the Washington Post (WP) reported that, according to multiple industry insiders, including consultants and lawyers based in the United States, at least two Korean companies have withdrawn their planned investment projects in the U.S., and at least four have extended their suspension period of halted U.S. investments.
The consultants and lawyers did not disclose the names of the companies that withdrew or postponed their investments due to concerns about negatively impacting business relationships with clients.
Tammy Overby, an international business consultant and former president of the Korea-U.S. Economic Council under the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, stated, “A Korean company was searching for a factory site in the U.S., but decided to expand their factory in Korea instead due to uncertainties and risks in the U.S. market.”
Chris Thomas, an immigration lawyer at the Denver-based law firm Holland & Hart, also said, “A major Korean IT company abandoned its plans to enter the U.S. market and decided to expand its presence in Korea or India following the incident.”
Previously, U.S. immigration authorities conducted a large-scale raid in September on a battery joint plant being constructed by Hyundai Motors and LG Energy Solution in Georgia, detaining more than 300 Korean workers. The workers were released after negotiations between the governments after being detained for seven days.
Subsequently, the U.S. and South Korea agreed to preventive measures for recurrence, but the aftermath of the immigration raid persists.
Attorney Thomas introduced that, due to the raid’s fallout, Japanese and Korean companies, along with several other clients, notified that they would “put everything on hold for the time being.”
The WP noted that while the immigration raid is a factor, the new visa regulations under the Trump administration also affected the investment downturn.
Lawyers and consultants representing East Asian companies investing in the U.S. reported that nationals from Asia, including Koreans, are hesitant to travel to the U.S. for business trips. This anxiety is further exacerbated by the Trump administration’s substantial increase in H-1B professional visa fees.
Jonathan Cleave, head of the international business consulting firm Intralink’s Korea office, pointed out, “Employees are increasingly reluctant to be dispatched to the U.S., which complicates the corporate decision-making process.”
Kush Desai, a White House deputy spokesperson, emphasized in a statement sent to the WP, “President Trump is committed to making the U.S. the most dynamic and investment-friendly economy in the world.”