South Korea’s foreign minister headed to the US on Monday as the fallout widened from last week’s immigration raid at a Hyundai-LG battery factory in Georgia.
Officials in Seoul lambasted the detainment of more than 300 Korean nationals: One said it was a slap in the face from a White House that has courted billions in Korean investment, only to target their workers; some major Korean conglomerates are reportedly growing more cautious about their US plans.
The raid, analysts said, threatens to upset the US-Korea alliance, echoing how the Trump administration has rankled other global partners, most recently India. “Asian allies of the US increasingly believe they are dealing with a fundamentally racist administration,” the Financial Times’ Gideon Rachman wrote.