South Korea says detained Korean workers released from Georgia facility before flight home

Published

9 hours ago

September 11, 2025

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s president said Thursday that Korean companies will likely hesitate to make further investments in the United States unless Washington improves its visa system for their employees, as U.S. authorities released hundreds of workers who were detained from a Georgia factory site last week.

In a news conference marking 100 days in office, Lee Jae Myung called for improvements in the U.S. visa system as he spoke about the Sept. 4 immigration raid that resulted in the arrest of more than 300 South Korean workers at a battery factory under construction at Hyundai’s sprawling auto plant west of Savannah.

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry later confirmed that U.S. authorities have released the 330 detainees – 316 of them Koreans – and that they were being transported by buses to Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport where they will board a charter flight scheduled to arrive in South Korea on Friday afternoon. The group also includes 10 Chinese nationals, three Japanese nationals and one Indonesian.

The massive roundup and U.S. authorities’ release of video showing some workers being chained and taken away, sparked widespread anger and a sense of betrayal in South Korea. The raid came less than two weeks after a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Lee, and just weeks after the countries reached a July agreement that spared South Korea from the Trump administration’s highest tariffs — but only after Seoul pledged $350 billion in new U.S. investments, against the backdrop of a decaying job market at home.

Lawmakers from both Lee’s liberal Democratic Party and the conservative opposition decried the detentions as outrageous and heavy-handed, while South Korea’s biggest newspaper compared the raid to a “rabbit hunt” executed by U.S. immigration authorities in a zeal to meet an alleged White House goal of 3,000 arrests a day.

During the news conference, Lee said South Korean and U.S. officials are discussing a possible improvement to the U.S. visa system, adding that under the current system South Korean companies “can’t help hesitating a lot” about making direct investments in the U.S.

Lee: ‘It’s not like these are long-term workers’

U.S. authorities said some of the detained workers had illegally crossed the U.S. border, while others entered legally but had expired visas or entered on visa waivers that prohibited them from working.

But South Korean officials expressed frustration that Washington has yet to act on Seoul’s yearslong demand to ensure a visa system to accommodate skilled Korean workers, though it has been pressing South Korea to expand U.S. industrial investments.

South Korean companies have been mostly relying on short-term visitor visas or Electronic System for Travel Authorization to send workers who are needed to launch manufacturing sites and handle other setup tasks, a practice that had been largely tolerated for years.

Lee said that whether Washington establishes a visa system allowing South Korean companies to send skilled workers to industrial sites will have a “major impact” on future South Korean investments in America.

“It’s not like these are long-term workers. When you build a factory or install equipment at a factory, you need technicians, but the United States doesn’t have that workforce and yet they won’t issue visas to let our people stay and do the work,” he said.

“If that’s not possible, then establishing a local factory in the United States will either come with severe disadvantages or become very difficult for our companies. They will wonder whether they should even do it,” Lee added.

Lee said the raid showed a “cultural difference” between the two countries in how they handle immigration issues.

“In South Korea, we see Americans coming on tourist visas to teach English at private cram schools — they do it all the time, and we don’t think much of it, it’s just something you accept,” Lee said.

“But the United States clearly doesn’t see things that way. On top of that, U.S. immigration authorities pledge to strictly forbid illegal immigration and employment and carry out deportations in various aggressive ways, and our people happened to be caught in one of those cases,” he added.

South Korea, US agree on working group to settle visa issues

Following a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said Wednesday that U.S. officials have agreed to allow the workers detained in Georgia to later return to finish their work at the site. He added that the countries agreed to set up a joint working group for discussions on creating a new visa category to make it easier for South Korean companies to send their staff to work in the United States.

Before leaving for the U.S. on Monday, Cho said more South Korean workers in the U.S. could be vulnerable to future crackdowns if the visa issue isn’t resolved, but said Seoul does not yet have an estimate of how many might be at risk.

The Georgia battery plant is one of more than 20 major industrial sites that South Korean companies are currently building in the United States. They include other battery factories in Georgia and several other states, a semiconductor plant in Texas, and a shipbuilding project in Philadelphia, a sector Trump has frequently highlighted in relation to South Korea.

Min Jeonghun, a professor at South Korea’s National Diplomatic Academy, said it’s chiefly up to the United States to resolve the issue, either through legislation or by taking administrative steps to expand short-term work visas for training purposes.

Without an update in U.S. visa policies, Min said, “Korean companies will no longer be able to send their workers to the United States, causing inevitable delays in the expansion of facilities and other production activities, and the harm will boomerang back to the U.S. economy.”

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MAGA Blames South Park for Charlie Kirk Assassination as Episode Pulled

Published

42 minutes ago

September 11, 2025

James Hibberd

In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, some conservatives are pointing fingers at South Park for mocking the conservative thought leader in a recent episode, while Comedy Central pulled the episode from a scheduled repeat Wednesday night.

The second episode of the current season of Comedy Central’s satirical hit — titled “Got a Nut” — had Eric Cartman becoming a right-wing podcaster and spouting tropes used by Kirk, who tours college campuses debating progressive students. “Who wants to debate the master debater?” demanded Cartman, who also took on Kirk’s hairstyle and later attended a ceremony giving out “The Charlie Kirk Award for Young Masterdebaters.”

The mockery was pretty tame by South Park standards (certainly kinder than its treatment of Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem in the same episode). After the episode aired, Kirk seemed thrilled by the episode and posted a TikTok (below) reacting by calling the episode “hilarious” and noted “South Park gets this right.” The Turning Point USA founder added, “We have a good spirit about being made fun of. This is all a win. We as conservatives have thick skin, not thin skin, and you can make fun of us and it doesn’t matter.”

But after Kirk’s tragic murder at Utah Valley University while engaged in the same sort of college campus debate the episode poked fun of, some MAGA conservatives are blasting the show.

According to the New York Post, one Turning Point USA staffer posted on Telegram, “Comedy has consequences. Charlie was targeted in the culture before he was targeted in real life” and right-wing radio host Jesse Kelly told his listeners: “South Park thought it was funny to turn Charlie into a cartoon joke. Now his wife is planning a funeral.”

The Daily Beast spotted some other comments on social media: “Let’s blame South Park. Blame the media. Blame leftist rhetoric. These people hate you and want to see you dead.” And: “South Park certainly fomented the hatred necessary to get Kirk assassinated.” And: “[South Park creators] Trey Parker and Matt Stone are responsible for this.” While a popular account called Johnny MAGA dubbed South Park “monsters” for the episode.

That said, many others on the right — perhaps even the majority — were quick to note they do not blame the series. One “MAGA” labeled X account wrote, “I don’t blame South Park. They aren’t our leaders, representatives, mentors, pastors, example setters or societal caretakers. They are satire!”

Comedy Central had no immediate comment on yesterday’s scrapped repeat, and the episode was still available on Paramount+ as of Thursday morning. Pulling episodes that unintentionally intersect with a violent real-life tragedy is a common practice as a respectful effort to not to inflame or take advantage of the situation.

Given South Park has been on a tear going after President Trump and MAGA this season, and frequently pivots at the last minute to tackle current events in their episodes, it will be interesting to see what creators Parker and Stone focus on when the show returns next week amid its new biweekly rollout schedule this season.

On a Reddit thread about the episode being pulled, fans agreed not airing the episode was “the polite thing to do” while also concurring that South Park doesn’t deserve blame for the real-life violence. “Probably a smart decision, no matter your feeling on him; don’t give either side reason to exploit this,” wrote one. While another opined, “You really can’t fault them for not predicting this; I don’t think anyone could have predicted this series of events with him literally talking about gun violence as he was being shot.”

The 31-year-old Kirk built a small conservative student group into America First — one of the most influential forces in Republican politics. Kirk was speaking at a debate Wednesday hosted by his nonprofit political organization. Immediately before the shooting, Kirk was taking questions for an audience member about mass shootings and gun violence. A single shot rang out and Kirk could be seen reaching for his neck with his right hand. The gunman is still at large.

“The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead,” President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social. “No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!

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‘South Park’ Episode Pulled From Cable But Not Paramount+

Published

1 hour ago

September 11, 2025

Dominic Patten

Paramount has taken down a recent episode of South Park that mocked Charlie Kirk in the aftermath of the MAGA activist’s assassination on Wednesday – sort of.

While the “Got a Nut” episode is still available on Paramount+, it can no longer be seen in the swath of South Park reruns on Comedy Central.

As the manhunt for 31-year-old Kirk’s killer continues, despite FBI Director Kash Patel at one point yesterday saying online that a “subject” was in custody and then released, some MAGA supporters have partial pointed the finger at South Park for the tragic shooting. Paramount had no comment on the episode being pulled, but sources close to the situation say it likely is “only temporary” until the political temperature comes down.

The show, the second episode of the Trey Parker and Matt Stone created satire’s current 27th Season, was removed from being shown on the cable channel in the hours following the fatal shooting of Kirk at Utah Valley University on September 10. Originally airing on August 6, “Got a Nut,” which parodied Kirk’s Prove Me Wrong debate approach as well as ICE’s masked raids and JD Vance‘s relationship with Donald Trump, was replaced with the Season 27th opener of “Sermon on the Mount.”

Of note, when “Got a Nut” premiered early last month, Kirk told Fox News on August 7 the episode was a “badge of honor.” That was a very similar reaction to Vice President JD Vance, who said “I finally made it” after he was slammed as leering sycophant to wannabe dictator Trump. Unlike Vance, Kirk even changed his profile pic briefly on his much watched YouTube page to that of South Park’s Eric Cartman as an homage. Kirk also gave South Park a shout out on X on August 6 with a “Not bad Cartman.”

While most of “Got a Nut” deals with fired South Park counselor Mr. Mackey joining ICE to make his monthly bills after talking to his bank manager and a student Clyde Donovan adopting the role of a provocative right-wing podcaster to make a few bucks. As South Park’s Cartman and Donovan fight it out for who truly is the real podcasting deal, the latter receives the “Charlie Kirk Award for Young Masterdebaters.”

South Park returns with a new episode on September 23 on Comedy Central, and then Paramount+ the next day.

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MSNBC fires analyst Matthew Dowd over Charlie Kirk shooting remarks | US news

Published

3 hours ago

September 11, 2025

Joseph Gedeon

MSNBC fired senior political analyst Matthew Dowd after he suggested on air that slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s own radical rhetoric may have contributed to the shooting that killed him.

During his appearance on Katy Tur Reports, Dowd suggested that Kirk’s rhetoric may have contributed to the violence that claimed his life. Kirk, 31, had a history of rightwing provocation and Christian nationalism, and frequently espoused bigoted rhetoric about Islam, women , LGBTQ+ communities and people of color.

“Hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions,” Dowd said, adding: “You can’t stop with these sort of awful thoughts you have and then saying these awful words and then not expect awful actions to take place.”

Dowd also speculated about the circumstances of the shooting, saying: “We don’t know if this was a supporter shooting their gun off in celebration. So we have no idea about this.”

The network issued an apology and announced Dowd’s dismissal, which came shortly after Kirk was shot dead during a question-and-answer session at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, where he was kicking off a nationwide campus debate tour. MSNBC president Rebecca Kutler described Dowd’s comments as “inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable” in a statement posted to social media.

“We apologize for his statements, as has he,” Kutler wrote. “There is no place for violence in America, political or otherwise.”

The network almost immediately severed ties with Dowd, with Deadline reporting that MSNBC had cut its relationship with the analyst citing “furor over remarks he made in the aftermath of the shooting”.

Dowd, who served as chief strategist for George W Bush’s 2004 presidential campaign and was formerly a political analyst for ABC News, issued his own apology following the controversy.

Writing on Bluesky, he said: “My thoughts & prayers are w/ the family and friends of Charlie Kirk. On an earlier appearance on MSNBC I was asked a question on the environment we are in. I apologize for my tone and words. Let me be clear, I in no way intended for my comments to blame Kirk for this horrendous attack. Let us all come together and condemn violence of any kind.”

Kirk, co-founder of Turning Point USA and a prominent figure in conservative youth politics who had been credited with boosting the Maga youth vote during the 2024 election, was fatally shot in the neck during the campus event on Wednesday afternoon, with multiple videos of the moment spreading across social media.

Federal authorities are investigating the shooting, with two persons of interest initially taken into custody before being released. Both were briefly detained but released without charge, and a suspect is still at-large.

The killing has drawn sharp criticism from across the political spectrum.

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