Hyudai, meet ICE

by liberal japonicus

I would like to research this post more, but we are still trying to get a handle on the comments and what constitutes ‘approval’ in WordPress, so I’ll put this up a little rougher than I prefer. Don’t get used to it!

During ObWi’s brief Babylonian exile, just before the death of Charlie Kirk, ICE conducted an operation targeting an EV production site of Hyundai. If you haven’t read about it, here is the wikipedia page for details. It is interesting that a candidate for Congress, Tori Branum, claimed her report to ICE was a factor in the raid, as well as the confused breakdown of nationalities, which suggests a level of disorganization. Apparently, ICE did not have any Korean translators with them, and

There were some interesting reactions from foreigners I know in Korea. I haven’t engaged them, but a few suggested some hypocrisy on the part of Korea and Hyundai, in part because Hyundai has a bad reputation for labor practices, while a few others pointed out that foreigners in Korea often run afoul of labor and visa laws. On the other hand, the Koreans I know are really pissed. This Korea Times article is a good read, especially to note the reporting of the arrests. The point that Christopher Landau, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, ‘expressed deep regret’ seems to be either citing South Korean reports or Landau’s social media, there is no official statement of regret.

One reason they are pissed is that the treatment harkens back to the Japanese treatment of Koreans, especially the use of Koreans for forced labor in WWII. (Asia-Pacific Journal’s articles on the issue are here) I feel like it is difficult for the average American to understand what kinds of buttons this pushed and I imagine this is even more true for the MAGA types and while reports have hinted at that, I don’t think they really explain it.

I’ve also looked at video of the raids, and it looks like there were no Korean translators. By all accounts, ICE was not prepared for the large number of people they arrested, from the details of their incarceration and treatment. I think this is significant because it supports what this lawyer, who represented some of the detainees, says, which is that ICE took this as low-hanging fruit to boost their numbers, the administration wants to erase this screwup (the fact that not only was the release of the discussion between the State Department and Korea different depending on which country, the fact that they went back and changed the news release is pretty damning)

I’m also wondering why other businesses, such as chicken farms (Georgia is supposed to be the ‘Poulty capital of the world’) or similar enterprises haven’t been raided. Was it assumed that Koreans might be more compliant?

This link describes the treatment of the workers, and a secret diary recorded by one of the workers.

When asked about where the worker was from, the person replied South Korea, to which the agents smiled and talked among themselves, making remarks about “North Korea” and “rocket man,” apparently referring to U.S. President Donald Trump’s past moniker for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

I keep looking for things to wrap this up and I find more. It’s a gift that keeps on giving…