Workers from the Hyundai Motor–LG Energy Solution battery plant construction site, previously detained at an ICE facility in Folkston, Georgia, board a bus to the airport on Thursday. (Yonhap)
Workers from the Hyundai Motor–LG Energy Solution battery plant construction site, previously detained at an ICE facility in Folkston, Georgia, board a bus to the airport on Thursday. (Yonhap)

South Korean workers detained by US immigration authorities in Georgia are set to return Friday afternoon, having been released a week after being taken into custody.

They had been held at the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Folkston, Georgia, following a Sept. 4 raid at an electric vehicle battery plant construction site operated by Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution.

A Korean Air flight carrying 316 South Koreans departed Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport at 11:38 a.m. local time on Thursday, bound for Incheon. They are expected to arrive at around 3:00 p.m. LG Energy Solution is covering the cost of the round-trip flight estimated at around 1 billion won ($730,000).

Live footage from Korean media showed the individuals, wearing plain clothes and not in handcuffs, stepping out of the facility and boarding eight chartered buses en route to an airport.

According to South Korea's Foreign Ministry, a total of 330 individuals boarded the flight. Among them were 14 non-Korean nationals, including Chinese and Japanese workers who were also detained during last week’s US raid on the Hyundai-LG site.

One South Korean remains in detention, as the individual resides in the US with their family and has opted to pursue legal procedures to challenge the detention.

Workers from the Hyundai Motor–LG Energy Solution battery plant construction site, previously detained at an ICE facility in Folkston, Georgia, board a bus to the airport on Thursday. (Yonhap)
Workers from the Hyundai Motor–LG Energy Solution battery plant construction site, previously detained at an ICE facility in Folkston, Georgia, board a bus to the airport on Thursday. (Yonhap)
Workers from the Hyundai Motor–LG Energy Solution battery plant construction site, previously detained at an ICE facility in Folkston, Georgia, board a bus to the airport on Thursday. (Yonhap)
Workers from the Hyundai Motor–LG Energy Solution battery plant construction site, previously detained at an ICE facility in Folkston, Georgia, board a bus to the airport on Thursday. (Yonhap)

People are seen sitting inside a bus through the window outside an ICE detention facility in Folkston, Georgia. (Yonhap)
People are seen sitting inside a bus through the window outside an ICE detention facility in Folkston, Georgia. (Yonhap)

A bus is leaving the ICE detention facility in Folkston, Georgia, en route to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Thursday. (Yonhap)
A bus is leaving the ICE detention facility in Folkston, Georgia, en route to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Thursday. (Yonhap)

Staff members at the Hyundai Motor Group–LG Energy Solution joint venture office in Savannah, Georgia, are seen packing belongings to assist the the repatriation of fellow workers who had been detained. (Yonhap News)
Staff members at the Hyundai Motor Group–LG Energy Solution joint venture office in Savannah, Georgia, are seen packing belongings to assist the the repatriation of fellow workers who had been detained. (Yonhap News)

Personal belongings of the detained Korean workers are seen gathered at the Hyundai Motor Group–LG Energy Solution joint venture office in Savannah, Georgia, on Thursday. (Yonhap)
Personal belongings of the detained Korean workers are seen gathered at the Hyundai Motor Group–LG Energy Solution joint venture office in Savannah, Georgia, on Thursday. (Yonhap)

khnews@heraldcorp.com