A total of 475 workers, more than 300 of them South Koreans, were rounded up in the Sept. 4 raid at the battery factory under construction at Hyundai’s sprawling auto plant.

Hundreds of South Korean workers detained by US immigration authorities in Georgia last week could soon be on their way home, but the impact the sweeping detentions have on US-South Korean relations – notably the countries’ deep economic ties – is likely to reverberate well into the future.

South Korea relations and drawn attention to the difficulties foreign companies face in obtaining U.S. visas for their employees.

A top South Korean official warned Tuesday that key elements of the country's trade deal with the U.S. are at risk, amid a dispute over how to deploy a $350 billion investment fund. Why it matters: Tensions between the two allies could boil over quickly,