South Korea sends plane to retrieve workers in Georgia as detentions risk opening rift between longstanding allies

Seoul, South Korea —

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.

A Korean Air charter plane departed Seoul Wednesday morning for Atlanta to help repatriate more than 300 South Korean workers currently in custody in Georgia.

South Korean officials had hoped to retrieve workers as early as Wednesday, but that now appears “unlikely due to circumstances on the US side,” the country’s foreign ministry said in a statement. “We are maintaining consultations with the US to ensure their earliest possible departure.”

News of the detentions – includin