TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan’s presidential office said on Wednesday it had appointed for the second year running a former economy minister as its envoy to this year’s APEC summit in South Korea, one of the few international forums both Taiwan and China take part in.
Lin Hsin-i, also chairman of government-backed investment fund Taiwania Capital, would represent Taiwan at the summit, the presidential office said in a statement.
Lin, who also led Taiwan’s delegation in 2005 when it was likewise held in South Korea, was the most suitable candidate to represent Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, the president’s office said.
This year’s summit could give an opportunity for a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump.
At last year’s summit in Peru, Lin greeted Xi with a wave but they did not speak. Lin also met then-U.S. President Joe Biden while in Lima.
Chinese-claimed Taiwan participates as “Chinese Taipei” at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum and does not send its president to summits given the political sensitivities and China’s objections, given it views the island as its own territory.
The democratically elected government in Taipei rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only the island’s people can decide their future.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Pyongyang has allocated strategic assets to respond to the buildup of U.S. military forces in the south and vowed to develop additional military measures, the state media KCNA reported on Sunday.
Kim spoke at a military exhibition event ahead of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea, the KCNA said.
Tattoo artists in South Korea will soon be able to work legally for the first time after lawmakers voted 195 to zero on Sept. 25 to pass the Tattooist Act.
The measure replaces decades of criminal penalties with a government-run licensing system designed to regulate hygiene and training standards. The unanimous vote comes a month after over 70 artists from across the country gathered outside the National Assembly in Seoul to call for its approval.
The Tattooist Act redefines tattooing and semi-permanent makeup as recognized services and allows non-medical practitioners to apply for licenses under official oversight. Tattooists will be required to comply with hygiene protocols and may need to complete regular training at state-approved institutions. The law will take effect two years after presidential promulgation, during which existing tattooists can register provisionally until full licensing becomes available. Tattoo removal will remain limited to licensed medical professionals, and tattooing minors without parental consent will continue to be banned.
For years, South Korea maintained one of the strictest stances on tattooing in the developed world, with unlicensed artists facing penalties of up to five years in prison or fines of 50 million won ($35,500). Despite this, demand for tattoos grew rapidly, pushing the practice into an unregulated underground economy.
Doy, a union leader representing 1,100 tattooists, said, “Tattooists in Korea, each working in their own spaces, overcame the isolating nature of our profession and built a solidarity of 1,100 members.” Another tattooist welcomed the changes, saying, “With legalization, card payments will become possible, meaning taxes can be paid properly, and as a result, the financial burden of tattoos may even decrease.”
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SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said his country and the United States had reached a rough agreement on security in tandem with ongoing tariff negotiations, Yonhap news agency reported.
In an interview published on Thursday, Cho also said the U.S. was reviewing a currency swap deal, which was a key demand from South Korea in tariff talks, but signalled it was not optimistic.
Washington had agreed to lower tariffs on imports from South Korea in return for a $350 billion investment package, but follow-up negotiations to hammer out details, including the structure of the investment package, have stalled.
Meanwhile, Seoul and its ally Washington have also been looking at a deal in security areas such as an increase in South Korean defence spending, which is part of the broader package aimed to push down U.S. tariffs.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said South Korea should be paying for its own military protection and suggested it needed to pay more for the U.S. troop presence there.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Monday that the country would boost next year’s defence budget by 8.2%, highlighting the importance of stronger self-defence.
“In the security field, an agreement has already been reached in general, which allows us to increase our national defence capabilities in necessary areas,” Cho told Yonhap.
Working towards the security deal, top South Korean officials have said the two countries are making progress on giving more rights to South Korea on nuclear fuel processing for industrial purposes.
That is currently not allowed under an existing agreement between the two countries.
Cho said in the interview that he did not rule out a possibility of Trump meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, as some “speculative” media reports suggested.
Trump is expected to attend the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group in Gyeongju, South Korea in late October, and Lee suggested the U.S. president try to meet with Kim during the trip.
Last month, Kim said he was open to talks with the U.S. if Washington stopped insisting his country give up nuclear weapons, North Korean state media reported.
(Reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Jamie Freed)
MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov met with his North Korean counterpart No Kwang Chol, Russian state-run news agency TASS reported on Wednesday.
The two officials unveiled a memorial in Russia’s Moscow region commemorating Korean partisans who fought alongside Soviet forces during World War Two. TASS did not provide details on any other topics discussed during the meeting.
(Reporting by ReutersWriting by Maxim RodionovEditing by Peter Graff)
SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Wednesday the country’s defence budget for next year would rise by 8.2% to 66.3 trillion won ($47.1 billion), adding that peace would only be possible on a strong foundation of security.
Lee made the comments on South Korea’s Armed Forces Day, highlighting the importance of self-defence capabilities.
“The momentum for cooperation and shared prosperity is weakening across the world, and we are entering an era of increased conflict, where it’s every man for himself,” Lee said.
“To ensure peace and prosperity for the Republic of Korea, we must not depend on anyone else but strengthen our own power,” said Lee, using South Korea’s official name.
Lee said next year’s defence budget, with its “significant” increase, would be focused on investing in cutting-edge technology like drones and robots.
The South Korean leader, who is pursuing engagement with North Korea, said that peace would only be possible on a strong foundation of security. He said the country’s defence spending was already 1.4 times North Korea’s gross domestic product.
Lee took office in June after a snap election, which followed the fall of Yoon Suk Yeol, who imposed a short-lived martial law order that prompted troops and military helicopters to be deployed to parliament and other buildings.
Lee said the military’s reputation had suffered an “endless decline” and called for the military to regain public trust.
“An army meant to protect the people must never repeat pointing its guns at them,” he said.
(Reporting by Ju-min Park, Heejin Kim; Editing by Tom Hogue and Michael Perry)
SEOUL (Reuters) -The U.S. and South Korea are working closely to advance their trade and investment partnership including by processing appropriate visas for qualified South Korean workers, the U.S. State Department said.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau stressed the “critical role” of skilled workers of foreign companies investing in the U.S. at the first working group meeting on new visas for South Korean companies, the State Department said in a statement.
The meeting between senior State Department and South Korean foreign ministry officials aimed at improving U.S. visa programmes for South Korean businesses was held in Washington on Tuesday.
Landau said the United States was committed to encouraging investment by companies from South Korea as one of the leading foreign investors in the U.S., the statement said.
The talks were set up in the aftermath of a massive immigration raid at a Hyundai Motor car battery facility under construction in the U.S. state of Georgia in September where hundreds of South Korean workers were arrested.
The arrests, which stunned the South Korean government and public, highlighted the lack of access to the right class of U.S. visas for specialised South Korean workers needed at investment sites.
SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea’s former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo went on trial on Tuesday, accused of abetting an insurrection among other criminal charges in connection with the country’s martial law crisis last December.
Han, appointed by ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol who declared martial law, also faces charges of creating false official documents and committing perjury.
During the first hearing where media was allowed to film, Han said Yoon’s imposition of martial law was unacceptable.
“During my nearly 40 years as a public servant, I’ve always believed that our country must develop through a market economy and international credibility. From that perspective, I’d say this situation was hard to accept,” Han told the court in Seoul.
Han admitted he had falsely stated that he did not receive or see any documents from the presidential office on December 3 when Yoon declared the martial law, but denied the other charges, one of his lawyers said.
A special prosecutor’s team investigating Yoon’s short-lived order that sparked a political crisis has said Han was the highest-ranking official who could have stopped the president’s “unconstitutional, illegitimate” martial law.
Yoon is also on trial, facing criminal charges of insurrection. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Han, an experienced technocrat who served in senior posts under five presidents, became acting president after Yoon was impeached.
Soon after, Han was impeached after being accused of aiding Yoon in the martial law declaration. He denied the accusation, but accepted some responsibility for the ensuing crisis by failing to dissuade Yoon from making the surprise move.
The Constitutional Court overturned Han’s impeachment, restoring his powers to serve as leader before he resigned from the post to run in a snap election in June. But he ended his bid for the presidency following rifts among conservatives.
Lee Jae Myung of the centre-left Democratic Party won the June 3 election to become president after Yoon was removed from office over the martial law incident.
(Reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Jamie Freed)
SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korean President Lee Jae Myung hosts outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Tuesday on a goodwill visit aimed at highlighting the two countries’ commitment to improve once-frosty ties and cooperate more closely on trade.
Lee has engaged with Japan on security and trade issues, continuing his predecessor’s policy of cautious rapprochement after years of tension over Japan’s wartime history.
Ishiba, whose Liberal Democratic Party is set to pick a new leader on October 4 who will likely become prime minister, is scheduled to visit South Korea for two days and meet Lee in the southern city of Busan.
Ishiba is a unique figure in the Japanese ruling party and South Korea looked forward to his continued role to help bilateral ties after he stepped down, Lee’s national security adviser, Wi Sung-lac, told a briefing on Monday.
The two leaders were also expected to compare notes on their respective trade negotiations with the United States to lower tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, Wi said.
Japan has reached a framework deal with Trump who has signed an executive order formalising the agreement to lower tariffs on Japanese products to 15% including on autos.
But many issues remain to be ironed out including Japan’s pledge of $550 billion in investment in U.S. industry and further actions threatened by Trump on pharmaceutical and semiconductor imports worldwide.
South Korea’s Lee made a handshake-deal with Trump during his visit to Washington in August but follow-up talks to finalise the trade agreement remain deadlocked, mostly over the details of $350 billion in investments pledged by South Korea.
South Korea has said that amount, if made in an upfront cash outlay as suggested by Trump, could trigger a financial crisis for Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
Lee previously held a summit meeting with Ishiba in August just ahead of his U.S. visit.
(Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Stephen Coates)
Meta is of facial recognition in Europe, the UK and South Korea to crack down on accounts that impersonate public figures. The new facial recognition-powered safety features are now live on Facebook in the regions and will expand to Instagram in the coming months.
The technology was initially put to use last year starting in the US, helping to identify ads that fraudulently use a celebrity’s likeness as well as to help people regain access to hacked accounts. Public figures opt in to this program in Europe, which is also being rolled out in South Korea alongside the new protections against impersonation. This new use case is aimed at scammers who pose as public figures to trick unsuspecting users into sending money or other scams of that nature.
“We’ll now use facial recognition technology to compare the profile picture on the suspicious account to the real public figure’s Facebook and Instagram profile pictures. If there’s a match, we will remove the impostor account,” said a Meta spokesperson.
In addition to the US rollout, the company’s facial recognition technology has been used to aid account recovery in the UK, EU and South Korea since March. This came three years after Facebook decided to shut down its facial recognition system on Facebook, due in large part to public backlash against the technology.
The social media giant touts the benefits of these tools, reporting that in the first half of 2025, user reports of “celebrity bait” ads dropped by 22 percent globally. Facial recognition remains a controversial technology, with differing public opinion on its use in and the .
SYDNEY (Reuters) -Share markets got off to a cautious start in Asia on Monday as investors braced for a possible shutdown of the U.S. government, which would in turn delay publication of the September payrolls report and a raft of other key data.
President Donald Trump will meet with the top Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress later on Monday to discuss extending government funding. Without a deal a shutdown would begin from Wednesday, which is also when new U.S. tariffs on heavy trucks, pharmaceuticals and other items go into effect.
A protracted closure could leave the Federal Reserve flying blind on the economy when it meets on October 29.
“If the shutdown lasts beyond the Fed meeting, the Fed will rely on private data for its policy decisions,” analysts at BofA wrote in a note. “On the margin, we think this may lower the likelihood of an October cut, but only marginally.”
Markets imply a 90% chance of a Fed cut in October, with around a 65% probability of another in December.
The BofA analysts estimated a shutdown would subtract only a slight 0.1% percentage point from economic growth for every week it lasted, while noting the impact on financial markets had been minimal in the past.
They cautioned that should the government use the closure to lay off workers permanently, then it could have a more meaningful impact on payrolls and consumer confidence.
There is also much uncertainty about what might happen at a meeting of U.S. generals and admirals in Quantico, Virginia, on Tuesday, called by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth which Trump will reportedly attend.
Q4 USUALLY GOOD FOR STOCKS
Otherwise, analysts expected equities to be supported by buying for the new quarter which historically tends to be a positive one for stocks. The S&P 500 has gained 74% of the time in the fourth quarters.
S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures were both up 0.2%, having eased modestly last week.
EUROSTOXX 50 futures added 0.3%, as did FTSE futures and DAX futures.
Japan’s Nikkei slipped 0.7%, having risen 6% for September so far, while South Korea bounced 1.2%, bringing its gains for the month to 6.3%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan firmed 0.4%, to be up almost 4% for the month.
In bond markets, Treasuries found support at 4.17% having been pressured last week by a run of upbeat U.S. economic data, that led investors to pare back expectations for how low Fed rates might ultimately go.
A host of central bank speakers are on the diary this week, with at least four from the Fed and the European Central Bank appearing on Monday alone.
The dollar index was steady at 98.134 having benefited from the batch of better economic news last week. The euro held at $1.1708, in the lower half of its recent $1.1646 to $1.1918 range.
The dollar stood at 149.49 yen, after rallying just over 1% last week and away from the September low around 145.50.
In commodity markets, gold was holding just below a record high at $3,764 an ounce. [GOL/]
Oil prices slipped as crude started to flow through a pipeline from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq to Turkey for the first time in 2-1/2 years. [O/R]
Reuters reported OPEC+ will likely approve another oil production increase of at least 137,000 barrels per day at its meeting next Sunday.
Brent dropped 0.8% to $69.57 a barrel, while U.S. crude eased 0.9% to $65.14 per barrel.
President Trump’s trade deal with South Korea is on shaky ground, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick taking a tough line in talks as some Seoul officials privately argue to allies that the White House is moving the goal posts.
Lutnick, in recent conversations with South Korean officials, has discussed with Seoul the idea of slightly increasing the $350 billion they had previously guaranteed to the U.S. in July and suggested the final tally could get a bit closer to the $550 billion pledged by Japan, according to people familiar with the discussions, including an adviser to South Korea’s government.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says he has ‘fond memories’ of US President Donald Trump and is open to future talks with the United States – if he can keep his nukes. Kim met Trump three times for high-profile summits during Trump’s first term, before talks collapsed in Hanoi in 2019 over what concessions Pyongyang was prepared to make on its nuclear arsenal.
The US demand that Kim give up his banned weapons has long been a sticking point between the two countries, with Pyongyang under successive rafts of UN sanctions over its nuclear and missile programs. ‘If the United States discards its delusional obsession with denuclearisation and, based on recognising reality, truly wishes for peaceful coexistence with us, then there is no reason we cannot meet it,’ Kim said, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
‘I still personally hold fond memories of the current US president, Trump,’ Kim added, in a wide-ranging speech to the country’s rubber-stamp parliament. Since the failed 2019 summit, North Korea has repeatedly said it will never give up its nuclear weapons and declared itself an ‘irreversible’ nuclear state. Kim reiterated that denuclearisation was not an option. ‘The world already knows well what the United States does after it forces a country to give up its nuclear arms and disarm,’ he said.
‘We will never give up our nuclear weapons.’ Kim said that sanctions had only helped the North in ‘growing stronger, building endurance and resistance that cannot be crushed by any pressure’. Kim also added that he had ‘no reason to sit down with South Korea’, even as Seoul’s new President Lee Jae-myung has sought to ease tensions with the North. ‘We make it clear that we will not deal with them in any form,’ he said. North Korea has in recent years declared the South its principal enemy and blown up rail links and roads connecting the two countries.
‘The lengthy and detailed justifications reflect equal parts confidence and desperation,’ Yang Moo-jin, former president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told AFP. ‘While outwardly aimed at foreign powers, the speech carried a strong domestic message, seeking to pre-empt instability,’ Yang said. Kim has been emboldened by the war in Ukraine, according to analysts, securing critical support from Russia after sending thousands of North Korean troops to fight alongside Moscow.
North Korea has become one of Russia’s main allies since Moscow invaded Ukraine three-and-a-half years ago, sending thousands of soldiers and container loads of weapons to help the Kremlin push Ukrainian forces out of western Russia, following Kyiv’s shock incursion last year. Moscow and Pyongyang signed a mutual defence pact last year when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the reclusive state. Seoul has repeatedly warned that Russia is stepping up support for Pyongyang, including the potential transfer of sensitive Russian military technology.
Trump is expected to visit South Korea next month, when the country hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) in its southern city of Gyeongju. ‘The timing of the remarks, just ahead of Trump’s trip to South Korea for the APEC summit, appears calculated,’ said Lim Eul-chul at South Korea’s Kyungnam University. ‘It hinted at the possibility of a surprise summit, while also playing to Trump’s well-known yearning for a Nobel Prize.’
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Kim Jong Un says he has ‘fond memories’ of Trump
KPop Demon Hunters has dominated streaming and the box office this summer, but KPop Defamation Hunters landed a win in a different venue: the South Korean courts. The South Korean virtual boy band Plave, which is made up of five members who only ever appear as animations, successfully sued a person who made derogatory comments about the group online.
According to the BBC, the unidentified social media user made a series of insulting posts about the band in July 2024. Among the attacks: he suggested the people behind the virtual band members “could be ugly in real life” and said they gave off a “typical Korean man vibe.” Some of the posts also included profanity, which doesn’t seem that offensive, but neither do the posts, so it’s probably worth mentioning.
The person who made the posts attempted to argue that the comments were directed at the avatars that front the group and not the real people lending their voices to the virtual band members. The court didn’t buy it and declared that the avatars represent someone real, so the attacks extend beyond the virtual fronts to the people behind them.
The victory landed Plave 500,000 South Korean won in total, 100,000 per band member, which works out to just over $70 a pop. Not exactly a fortune for a group that already has more than one million subscribers on YouTube, sold more than 500,000 units of their most recent album in the first week, and performs concerts that attract tens of thousands of fans. It’s also much less than the band asked for. They were seeking 6.5 million won for each performer, which would have worked out to about $4,650 per member and $23,250 total. The band claimed that the comments caused emotional stress for the group.
Vlast, the band’s label, intends to appeal the damages granted by the court, according to the BBC, arguing that it is too low for a case that sets a precedent for defamation against virtual avatars. While it does seem like the ruling is the first instance of defamation against virtual pop stars, it’s not uncommon for Korean music labels to pursue charges against internet trolls. Several labels in the country have made a concerted effort to go after people who badmouth acts online. The virtual band trend, to some extent, is considered a response to the type of attention and pressure that pop stars receive in Korea.
President Donald Trump on Friday said he will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea next month following a “very productive” phone call.
The meeting will take place during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. The face-to-face meeting will be the first between the two leaders during Trump’s second term in the White House.
Trump said he also agreed to travel to China in early 2026 and that Xi agreed to come to the United States “at an appropriate time.”
The president said Friday that he spoke with Xi about a range of issues, including trade, the war in Ukraine, and a deal to approve the sale of TikTok.
President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet in South Korea next month after speaking on Friday via phone, he said. (Image of flag: Kim Jae-Hwan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images; Image of Xi: Alexander Vilf/RIA Novosti/Pool/Anadolu via Getty Images; Image of Trump: Chris Kleponis/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“I also agreed with President Xi that we would meet at the APEC Summit in South Korea, that I would go to China in the early part of next year, and that President Xi would likewise come to the United States at an appropriate time,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “The call was a very good one, we will be speaking again by phone, and we appreciate the TikTok approval. Both [sides] look forward to meeting at APEC!”
Separately, Chinese state media said the two leaders held “pragmatic, positive, and constructive phone talks.”
On the Chinese side, Xi told Trump that he should avoid imposing “unilateral trade restrictions” on China, according to a statement from the country’s Foreign Ministry.
President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. (Fox News)
China has been a major target for Trump’s tariffs, resulting in back-and-forth trade restrictions over the flow of fentanyl into the United States.
Xi also expressed hope that the Trump administration would provide an “open, fair, and non-discriminatory business environment” for Chinese companies in the U.S.
Regarding TikTok, the ministry said: “The Chinese government respects the wishes of the company in question and would be happy to see productive commercial negotiations in keeping with market rules lead to a solution that complies with China’s laws and regulations and takes into account the interests of both sides.”
Hyundai Motor Group on Thursday confirmed it is going forward with previously announced plans to expand its Georgia plant, just weeks after an immigration raid delayed the startup of an electric vehicle battery plant at the site.
As part of a broader investment strategy, Hyundai said it would spend $2.7 billion to increase production capacity at the Ellabell site by 200,000 over the next three years, to a total of 500,000 vehicles a year.
The company first announced the expansion in March at the grand opening of the plant west of Savannah, and had said in August that it would invest an additional $5 billion in the United States overall. But the raid, which included arrests of more than 300 South Korean citizens, led to questions about the wisdom of the Asian nation investing in the U.S.
The company said it now plans to produce 10 models of electric and hybrid gas-electric vehicles in Georgia, up from the current two the plant has been assembling as it ramps up production. Hyundai says it’s still on track to expand production worldwide to 5.6 million vehicles a year by 2030. The automaker pledged that 60% of those vehicles will be electric or hybrid powered, targeting sales in South Korea, North America and Europe.
Hyundai said that it plans to make more than 80% of vehicles sold in the United States domestically by 2030, with total domestic content increasing from 60% to 80%. For the first time, the vehicles would include a mid-sized pickup truck, a key vehicle class in the U.S. market. The company already makes the Santa Cruz model, a four-door compact pickup, that it started selling in 2021.
Hyundai CEO José Muñoz has said the immigration raid will delay opening the battery plant by at least two to three months. Spokesperson Michael Stewart said Thursday that the facility will open in the first half of 2026.
Both Hyundai executives and Georgia officials have been trying to calm the situation since the raid, which mushroomed into a diplomatic dispute between South Korea and the United States.
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp told reporters Tuesday at a ceremony marking the groundbreaking of a Rivian Automotive electric vehicle plant that he remains confident Georgia’s business advantages would “win out” in terms of foreign investment. The raid may even wind up smoothing the way for South Korean employees to more easily obtain legal permission to help build and operate facilities in the United States, he said.
“I’ve had good conversations with companies that are here doing business in Georgia, companies that are looking to do business here,” Kemp said. “And I’ve had good conversations with people in the White House about the visa issue.”
Brent Stubbs, the chief administrative officer of the Ellabell site, wrote in an opinion piece published Wednesday in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the company is still committed to Georgia.
“This situation doesn’t change our plans to continue expanding and localizing in the United States,” Stubbs wrote. “Our investments in America are part of a long-term strategic plan.”
The $2.7 billion investment confirmed Thursday will go to expanding capacity at the plant and group affiliates, Stewart said. Hyundai and its onsite affiliates currently have 3,129 employees in Ellabell, he said.
Hyundai and its joint-venture partner in the battery plant, LG Energy Solution, had previously announced $12.6 billion of investments at the Georgia site, with pledges to hire at least 8,500 workers by the end of 2031. State and local governments have promised $2.1 billion in tax breaks and other incentives.
The boost at the Ellabell site is the biggest part Hyundai’s plan to raise production by 1.2 million vehicles a year worldwide. That includes another 250,000 vehicles out of Pune, India; and 200,000 more at Hyundai’s electric vehicle plant in Ulsan, South Korea. The automaker said it would also deliver parts for assembly into an additional 250,000 vehicles at plants in Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and North Africa.
Hyundai underlined a previous announcement to deepen its investment in robotics and said that by 2027 it would launch extended-range electric vehicles with gasoline motors to extend the range of its electric batteries to more than 600 miles (960 kilometers).
President Donald Trump on Sunday said foreign workers sent to the United States are “welcome” and he doesn’t want to “frighten off” investors, 10 days after hundreds of South Koreans were arrested at a work site in Georgia.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, the 79-year-old Republican wrote: “I don’t want to frighten off or disincentivize investment.”
Some 475 people, mostly South Korean nationals, were arrested at the construction site of an electric vehicle battery factory, operated by Hyundai-LG, in the southeastern US state of Georgia on September 4.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials alleged South Koreans had overstayed their visas or held permits that didn’t allow them to perform manual labor.
The Georgia raid was the largest single-site operation conducted since Trump launched a sweeping immigration crackdown across the country.
Though the United States decided against deportation, images of the workers being chained and handcuffed during the raid caused widespread alarm in South Korea.
Seoul repatriated the workers on Friday.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called the raid “bewildering” and warned Thursday that the raid could discourage future investment.
In his post, Trump described the circumstances for temporarily allowing foreign experts into the US to build “extremely complex products.”
“Chips, Semiconductors, Computers, Ships, Trains, and so many other products that we have to learn from others how to make, or, in many cases, relearn because we used to be great at it, but not anymore,” Trump wrote.
“We welcome them, we welcome their employees, and we are willing to proudly say we will learn from them, and do even better than them at their own ‘game,’ sometime in the not too distant future,” Trump added.
Korea’s trade unions have called on Trump to issue an official apology.
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A woman on trial in New Zealand admitted to killing her children who were later found in suitcases, court records showed Friday, though the mother’s defense has reportedly argued she is not guilty by reason of insanity.
South Korean Hakyung Lee “accepted that she gave her children nortriptyline which led to their deaths,” state prosecutor Natalie Walker told jurors this week, referring to a common antidepressant.
Police believe Lee killed her children — Minu Jo, 6, and Yuna Jo, 8 — in June or July 2018, a year after her husband’s death, and then returned to South Korea.
The children’s bodies were found in an abandoned storage locker by an Auckland family over four years later.
Lee was arrested in September 2022 in South Korea and extradited two months later. She was extradited from South Korea in November 2022 at the request of the New Zealand police.
Police and forensic investigators gather at the scene where suitcases with the remains of two children were found, after a family, who are not connected to the deaths, bought them at an online auction for an unclaimed locker, in Auckland, New Zealand, August 11, 2022 in this still image taken from video.
TVNZ/Handout via REUTERS TV
During cross-examination in court, however, pathologist Simon Stables said it was hard to conclude that the antidepressant was the sole cause of the children’s deaths given the advanced state of decomposition when their bodies were discovered.
“One could argue that it is the cause of death or you could say that it’s in combination with something else,” he told the court.
“It could also have subdued the child,” he added.
The children’s remains were found in separate peach-colored suitcases, wrapped in plastic, a police officer who first investigated the matter told the court. The grisly discovery came after an unsuspecting family bought a trailer-load of items — including the suitcases — at an auction for abandoned goods near Auckland, the country’s biggest city.
Lee has elected to represent herself in the trial but has two lawyers who are serving as standby counsel.
On Tuesday, defense lawyer Lorraine Smith told the court that Lee was “not guilty of murder by reason of insanity,” video of the trial released by Australian national broadcaster ABC showed.
Smith said the death of her husband in 2017 sent her into a depressive spiral.
Hakyung Lee stands in the dock at the High Court in Auckland, New Zealand, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025.
Lawrence Smith / AP
A palliative care counselor said in a statement read to the court that Lee had said she “wanted it all to be over” and often mentioned ending both her and her husband’s life, the ABC reported.
At one point, Lee thought it would be best if the whole family died and they all took antidepressants, Smith said.
But she got the dose wrong and when she woke up, the children were dead, Lee said.
The recent arrests of about 300 South Koreans at a Hyundai manufacturing plant in Georgia drew questions about the detainees’ immigration status.
When PolitiFact asked about their status, the Department of Homeland Security did not answer the question. Steven Schrank, a special agent in charge of Homeland Security investigations in Georgia and Alabama, said at a Sept. 5 press conference that the arrested workers crossed the U.S. border illegally, violated or overstayed their visas, or had entered the United States under a visa waiver program that prohibited them from working.
Immigration lawyer Charles Kuck told PolitiFact he is representing 12 of the detained people, some of whom are Korean. He said some of his clients entered the United States using either a business visa or the visa waiver program that South Korea participates in. These programs allow people to legally enter the country for a limited time and perform specific business activities. But people can’t work or be paid by U.S. companies while under these immigration statuses.
Kuck said his Korean clients had been in the United States for no more than 45 days, an allowable period of time under these programs.
Kuck also told The Associated Press that the South Korean workers are engineers and specialized equipment installers who were helping set up or repair equipment at the joint plant for Hyundai and LG Energy Solution. The plant will manufacture electric vehicle batteries, which require machines that are not made in the United States, according to Kuck. Kuck added that it would take three to five years to train U.S. workers to install or repair the plant’s equipment, which is why workers have to travel from abroad to install or repair the plant’s equipment.
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The Guardian reported Sept. 10 that it had obtained an Immigration and Customs Enforcement document that says at least one of the detained workers was in the United States on a B-1 visa. The ICE document said the worker “has not violated his visa.” When the Guardian asked DHS about that worker, a spokesperson said he was unauthorized to work.
Immigration officials gave the detainees two options, accept deportation with a five-year reentry ban, or stand a monthslong trial while remaining in detention, according to Yonhap, a South Korean news agency. News reports said the South Korean government would fly the workers home.
A Korean Air charter plane taxis at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP)
The plant is part of a 2022 agreement between Hyundai and the state of Georgia to build the company’s first U.S. factory dedicated to manufacturing batteries and electric vehicles. The immigration raid has stopped construction of the 2,900-acre EV battery plant that is expected to employ up to 8,500 people, CNN reported.
South Korean leaders, including President Lee Jae Myung, have denounced the raid, calling it “unjust infringements on the activities of our people and businesses.”
What is a B-1 visa?
B visas allow people to temporarily visit the United States, and B-1 visas are for business purposes, such as training U.S. workers in a special skill for a limited time.
The business activities permitted under a B-1 visa include consulting with business associates, attending conventions or conferences, and negotiating contracts.
People seeking a B-1 visa must fill out an online application and attend an interview at a U.S. consulate abroad. Applicants must also have enough money to cover travel expenses and maintain a residence outside of the United States, to ensure they will return to their home countries.
Once granted, B-1 visas are typically good for ten years. B-1 visa holders can enter the United States multiple times during that period and they can stay in the country for up to six months at a time. In certain cases, their stay can be extended for up to one year.
As with other visas, immigration agents at ports of entry — such as airports — decide whether a B-1 visa holder can enter the country and for how long.
The State Department issued more than 31,000 B-1 visas and more than 6.4 million combined B-1/B-2 visas, for business and tourism, in fiscal year 2024, which ran from October 2023 through September 2024.
Can people work while on B-1 visas?
B-1 visa holders cannot work full-time jobs in the United States, and they cannot be paid by a U.S. company.
However, certain business-related activities are allowed. Kuck said that work is limited to negotiating contracts, meeting with business associates and performing installations and services following a sale.
B-1 visa holders can also enter the United States “to install, service, or repair commercial or industrial equipment or machinery purchased from a company outside the United States or to train U.S. workers to perform such services,” according to a State Department manual about B visas.
People coming to the United States on a B-1 visa for those purposes must further have unique skills that are considered necessary for a company to fulfill a contract’s obligations. Visa holders can’t perform any assembly or construction work, for example, but they can supervise or train workers to do that work.
For years, South Korean companies have struggled to obtain U.S. work visas for the specialists they need in their high-tech plants. That’s why some people get B-1 visas or visa waivers, Park Tae-sung, vice chairman of Korea Battery Industry Association, told Reuters. The United States issues a finite number of work visas each year, and the process to obtain them can take months.
South Korea’s foreign ministry said it has told U.S. officials about difficulties its nationals face to get visas.
“We emphasized to major U.S. figures that such visas are essential for the short-term stay of Korean professionals who are needed for the initial operation of factories and for training local staff when our companies expand to the U.S.,” the foreign ministry said in a statement to NBC News.
What is the Visa Waiver Program and can people work while on it?
The Visa Waiver Program is similar to a B-1 visa, but fewer people are eligible for it, and a consulate interview is not required to obtain it. The program allows most citizens from 40 participating countries, including South Korea, to travel to the United States for tourism or business for up to 90 days without a visa.
Eligible people must be approved via the Electronic System for Travel Authorization, or ESTA, an online State Department program that collects biometric data, travel and other eligibility information.
Similarly to B-1 visas, people who entered the United States via this program are not allowed to work in the country. They are allowed to attend business meetings or consultations, attend conventions or conferences, and negotiate contracts, according to the State Department.
In fiscal year 2023, around 1.9 million people entered the United States under the program for business purposes, according to DHS data.
More than 300 South Korean nationals detained by federal agents in a massive immigration raid last week on a Hyundai plant in Georgia for alleged visa violations were waiting Wednesday for a charter flight due to carry them back to their country.
The South Korean workers were among some 475 people detained on Sept. 4 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at a still-under construction joint Hyundai-LG electric vehicle battery facility near Savannah. ICE said they were suspected of living and working in the U.S. illegally.
South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the departure of the Air Korea charter flight, which had been expected on Wednesday, was delayed due to unspecified circumstances in the U.S., but it would not provide any further information.
A spokesperson for Hartsfield-Jackson airport in Atlanta told CBS News that the charter operation to transport the detainees had been canceled for Wednesday, subject to change. The spokesperson did not provide any information on the reason for the change in plans.
Buses are seen behind razor wire at the Folkston ICE Processing Center, Sept. 9, 2025, in Folkston, Georgia. A chartered plane had been expected to depart from Atlanta for Seoul on Sept. 10 to repatriate hundreds of South Korean workers detained in a sweeping immigration raid, but the plan was delayed without explanation.
ELIJAH NOUVELAGE/AFP/Getty
The raid and the detention of hundreds of South Koreans in an ICE facility has tested U.S.-South Korea ties that are important politically, militarily and economically. South Korea is the biggest foreign direct investor in the U.S. and the sixth biggest trading partner overall.
President Lee Jae Myung, visiting the White House in July, pledged $350 billion in new U.S. investment to sweeten a trade-and-tariff deal with President Trump.
“The sentiment is obviously very, very negative,” James Kim, Chairman and CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce in Seoul, told CBS News. “In my office, I usually have my TV turned on to the news – and this is obviously covered from morning to evening constantly. But everyone who I speak to, they view America as its number-one partner here from South Korea. Yes, we’re going to have some challenging times.”
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, was peppered with demands from angry lawmakers during a parliamentary session in Seoul on Sept. 8, before he departed for meetings with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other U.S. officials.
Lawmaker Kim Joon-hyun demanded that Cho respond to the ICE raid by launching investigations into every U.S. national teaching English in South Korea who could be working illegally on a tourist visa.
“Are we giving our money, technology, and investment to the United States only to be treated like this?,” Kim asked.
Federal authorities conduct an immigration enforcement operation at a Hyundai battery plant in Bryan County, Georgia, Sept. 4, 2025.
ATF
Cho replied by saying he would try to negotiate with Rubio to increase the number of visas issued to highly skilled Korean nationals to work in specialty occupations in the U.S.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said the ICE raid was the biggest single-site enforcement action in the agency’s history. ICE alleges that the South Korean workers either overstayed their visa waiver permits, known as ESTAs, which allow business visits of up to 90 days, or were holding visas that did not permit them to perform manual labor, called B-1 business visas.
Kim, at the American Chamber in Seoul, called it a “blip” in U.S.-Korea ties and said he was “very, very optimistic about a much brighter future between the two” countries.
South Korea’s president, however, took a more critical tone.
“As the president who is in charge of national safety, I feel a great responsibility,” Lee said Tuesday. “I hope that the unfair infringement of our people and corporate activities for the joint development of both Korea and the United States will not happen again.”
A poll conducted in South Korea found that almost 60% of respondents said they were disappointed by the U.S. crackdown and called the measures “excessive,” while about 31% said the ICE action was “inevitable” and that they could understand the reasoning.
President Trump, in a Sunday post on his Truth Social platform, addressed all foreign companies operating in the U.S., saying “your investments are welcome, and we encourage you to LEGALLY bring your very smart people.”
Kim at the chamber of commerce urged companies to heed the advice.
“My key message is listen to what President Trump said today. He wants to encourage more foreign companies to invest in America. Bring your people, bring your resources into America, but do it legally,” he told CBS News.
Industry experts caution, however, that it may be difficult to maintain investment levels under those guidelines, as securing visas can take years, while many projects face strict deadlines and delays can drive up costs. There is a shortage of highly skilled workers in the U.S., meanwhile, for battery manufacturing, semiconductor and modern shipbuilding industries — all arenas in which South Korea has been investing heavily for years.
Such jobs can require years of experience, not just a few months of on-the-job training.
A spokesperson for South Korea’s Foreign Ministry told CBS News that since Mr. Trump’s second term began, it had already reached out 52 times on the matter of securing more visas for highly-skilled workers.
Kim, the U.S. chamber of commerce leader, said the current upset in relations represented “an opportunity to really fix some things that could be in the grey area, make it a lot more clear, so that they can have an even better relationship.”
He said that, given Seoul’s importance as an investor in the U.S., it may be a good time for Washington to consider adopting a new policy that allows South Koreans to more easily come and work in the U.S.
“I think that in the past, Korea may not have been a significant investor in the United States, but now they are,” he said. “So I think it’s worthy and deserving of that kind of a new status.”
Mr. Trump gave a nod in his Truth Social post to the notion that the U.S. does need foreign expertise, saying foreign companies should bring people over to help train American workers — and then hire them to do the work themselves.
Rubio, during his meeting Wednesday in Washington with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho, “said the United States welcomes ROK (South Korea) investment into the United States and stated his interest in deepening cooperation on this front,” according to a readout shared by the State Department, which did not mention the ICE raid in Georgia.
Rubio and Cho discussed advancing U.S.-South Korean ties “through a forward-looking agenda” that “revitalizes American manufacturing through ROK investment in shipbuilding and other strategic sectors, and promotes a fair and reciprocal trade partnership,” the State Department said.
Ramy Inocencio is a CBS News foreign correspondent based in London, covering Europe and the Middle East. He joined the Network in 2019 as CBS News’ Asia correspondent, based in Beijing and reporting across the Asia-Pacific, bringing two decades of experience working and traveling between Asia and the United States.
