As President Donald Trump wrapped up the first leg of his Asia trip after meeting with — and being celebrated by — Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Bloomberg shared an interview with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, who noted a few “sticking points” regarding his country’s pledge to invest $350 billion for U.S. factories.
Lee made clear that the sticking points were not insignificant, saying that “the method of investment, the amount of investment, the timeline and how we will share the losses and divide the dividends [all] remain sticking points.”
(NOTE: Trump has faced criticism for portraying pledges from foreign nations as money already at work in the U.S. economy, while in many cases the details — and the funds — remain speculative. Lee, in turn, has faced criticism for the magnitude of the pledge, and its potentially disastrous impact on the nation’s currency.)
The South Korean pledge, made in August during Lee’s visit to the White House, was notably also made before the Trump administration’s federal agents raided a Hyundai battery plant in Georgia, where hundreds of South Korean workers were detained.
As seen in the interview below, Lee said of the ICE raid: “Many in Korea were surprised because our workers who went to the United States to help the US with its manufacturing renaissance received irrational treatment. This has also caused severe trauma for the workers as well. And I have heard that some workers do not want to go back. So without taking measures to ensure the safety and rational treatment of these workers, there is a high possibility that factory construction in the US may be significantly postponed.”
The US and South Korea remain stuck on all the major details of a $350 billion investment pledge, says President Lee Jae Myung.
It comes after an ICE raid on a Hyundai battery plant in Georgia last month where hundreds of South Koreans were detained https://t.co/X5MXk5hVFy pic.twitter.com/qg9km1ZjfF
— Bloomberg (@business) October 27, 2025
After the raid in September, Lee said: “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.”
Lee added about the Hyundai workers caught up in the raid: “The experience of being handcuffed and detained in a foreign country is not only traumatic and unbelievable for the workers, but also for the families. Unless we completely resolve this issue, I believe that they will not want to return.”
On Air Force One, Trump was asked about Korea wanting a guarantee of visas for Koreans working in such battery factories in the U.S. The POTUS said: “I was very much opposed,” but then added, “When they come in and they’re making complex machinery they have to bring in some people at least at the initial phase.”
Trump: You can’t just pick people off an unemployment line and say, “We just, you know, opened up a $2 billion battery factory.”
We have a lot of factories being built by outside by foreign interests.
I’m letting them know right now that when they come into our country we can… pic.twitter.com/Avjwh8AhD3
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 27, 2025
Talking about employing Americans at battery factories, Trump said: “You can’t just pick people off an unemployment line and say, ‘We just, you know, opened up a $2 billion battery factory.’ We have a lot of factories being built by outside by foreign interests. I’m letting them know right now that when they come into our country we can expect to see them bring in with them some very talented people that have been doing it for many years.”
Note: Trump travels next to South Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit on Friday, where — despite the attendance of 20 world leaders — the focus is on a meeting between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who are expected to announce some level of rapprochement in the trade war initiated by Mr. Trump.