Korean Air to use a Boeing 747-8I to repatriate South Korean nationals detained by ICE
US officials arrested hundreds of South Korean nationals in an immigration raid on September 4, 2025.
LG Energy Solutions, one of the partners in the HL-GA Battery Company joint venture, whose workers were detained during a raid by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), has chartered a Korean Air Boeing 747-8I to bring back the detained workers.
The South Korean news agency Yonhap News Agency (YNA), citing sources familiar with the matter, reported that Korean Air plans to utilize one of its 747-8Is to bring back South Korean workers detained by ICE in a raid in Savannah, Georgia, the US.
Korean Air’s 747-8I should leave Seoul Incheon International Airport (ICN) for Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL) on September 10, 2025, returning to South Korea the next day. YNA added that LG Energy Solutions would pay an estimated KRW1 billion ($720,315) to charter the 747-8I.
Korean Air has five passenger 747-8Is in its fleet, with the quintet being registered as HL7636, HL7637, HL7638, HL7642, and HL7644. At the time of publishing, HL7636 and HL7642 are in the air on regularly scheduled flights to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), flight KE 11 and KE 17, while the remaining trio have been at ICN since landing at the airport with no scheduled departures, Flightradar24 records showed.
The airline’s 747-8Is are configured with six first class, 48 business, and 314 economy class seats, totaling 368, according to planespotters.net.
ICE detained the workers, including South Korean nationals, at the HL-GA Battery Company site in Savannah, Georgia, on September 4, 2025. According to the government agency, its operation “focused on serious allegations of unlawful employment practices and other potential federal crimes,” resulting in 475 people being detained.
In a statement on September 6, 2025, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs (외교부, MOFA) confirmed that around 300 South Korean nationals had been arrested by ICE. On September 8, 2025, MOFA deployed a rapid response team, led by Jung Ki-hong, the Government Representative for Korean Nationals Overseas Protection and Consular Affairs at the MOFA.
Cho Hyun, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Korea, also departed for the US on September 8, 2025.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump, the President of the United States, said in a post on Truth Social that foreign companies should respect the US’ immigration laws, adding that while investments are welcome, foreign companies must return the favor by hiring and training “American Workers.”
