BRYAN COUNTY, Ga. () — As questions swirl about when a South Korean charter plane will return hundreds of nationals to Seoul, News 3 is getting answers on the future of employment and operations at the Hyundai megasite.

That plane landed in Altanta Wednesday morning, meant to bring home 300 of the 475 workers detained in last week’s immigration raid at the HL-GA Battery Company construction site in Bryan County. No official timeline has been released on when that plane will return to South Korea, as of Wednesday afternoon.

A spokesperson with the Savannah Economic Development Authority (SEDA) told News 3, “It is important to note that those that were detained were not full time, permanent employees and were installing equipment, training and construction. Economic development agreements do not include construction, etc. as they are not full time, permanent jobs.”

Many people have also been questioning the potential impact this immigration raid will have on jobs on the megasite campus. According to SEDA, the raid will not have an impact on jobs promised.

To date, 2,824 full time jobs have been created by Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA) and its onsite affiliates that are in production, according to SEDA. According to a spokesperson, HMGMA has 1,367 employees with 73.2 percent of them coming from the Greater Savannah area.

The HMGMA spokesperson said they continue to actively hire, and this will not impact HMGMA’s hiring goals.

HMGMA or “the Metaplant” will have 2,609 of the 8,500 jobs on the megasite, once construction is complete. According to the Economic Development Agreement with the state, the numbers have to be reached by 2031.

HMGMA does have expats on site, according to a spokesperson. The expats assist in communication with headquarters in Korea. This is standard practice for manufacturers operating outside of its home country. The most expats they have had at HMGMA was 56 during the building of the site and was the highest they plan to have. The number of expats will dwindle as production continues, according to the HMGMA spokesperson.

“The relationship with Hyundai and SEDA/Joint Development Authority (JDA) remains as strong as ever. Hyundai, along with its affiliates and suppliers have made a significant investment to this region and continue to demonstrate their commitment,” a SEDA spokesperson told News 3.

HMGMA has not been impacted by the raid that took place at the neighboring construction site. Production at HL-GA Battery is scheduled to begin in mid-2026. SEDA has not heard of any delays.

reached out to Ruby Gould, president of the KAAGS, for comment on this immigration operation. Gould wrote to News 3, I have no further information on the current situation. We are all hoping the detainees will be released quickly.”