SEOUL — Many South Korean workers were sent to the US on questionable documents despite their misgivings and warnings about stricter US immigration enforcement before last week’s raid on a Hyundai site, according to workers, officials and lawyers.

For years, South Korean companies have said they struggle to obtain short-term work visas for specialists needed in their high-tech plants in the United States, and had come to rely on a grey zone of looser interpretation of visa rules under previous American administrations.

When that changed in the early days of US President Donald Trump’s second term, some workers were denied entry to the United States under statuses that did not fully allow work, according to Reuters interviews with more than a dozen workers from various companies, government and company officials, and immigration lawyers.

More than 300 South Koreans were among the 475 people swept up and detained by US federal authorities at Hyundai Motor’s UScar battery plant near Savannah, Georgia, on Thursday, in the largest single-site enforcement operation in the history of the Department of Homeland Security’s investigative operations.

Many of the people arrested were skilled workers who were sent to the US to install equipment at the near-complete factory on a visa waver programme, or B-1 business traveller visas, which largely did not allow work, three people said.

“It’s extremely difficult to get an H-1B visa, which is needed for the battery engineers. That’s why some people got B-1 visas or ESTA,” said Park Tae-sung, vice chairman of Korea Battery Industry Association, referring to the Electronic System for Travel Authorization.

One person who works at the Georgia site told Reuters that this had long been a routine practice. “There was a red flag … They bypass the law and come to work,” the person said, asking not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.

The arrests shocked South Korea although workers had previously expressed concern that they could be caught in between Trump’s immigration crackdown and corporate efforts to protect investments in the United States that are at the centre of ongoing trade and tariff talks.

‘I BEGGED THEM’
An equipment technician in South Korea, who previously worked with six of the people arrested, said: “I warned them they could screw up their lives if they are caught.”

“I begged them not to go to the United States again,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

He said he had once obtained a B-1 visa from the United States by claiming he was a supervisor, rather than an equipment specialist.

Another equipment technician working as a contractor with LG Energy Solution said his application for a B-1 visa to work at Hyundai’s Georgia factory was rejected earlier this year, without explanation. When he then tried to fly to Mexico and cross the border, he was blocked from boarding the flight in Seoul.

“We thought the US was our ally … but they are treating me like an illegal immigrant,” he said.

LG Energy Solution is working with Hyundai to build the factory.

Officials at LGES were aware of the long-standing issues and some of the companies’ employees and contractors were reluctant to travel to the United States for fear of being denied entry, two of the sources said.

“LG Energy Solution has been actively working to resolve visa issues” for its employees and subcontractors, including holding visa briefing sessions through law firms to “prevent legal issues,” LGES said in a statement when asked by Reuters about its employees’ visas.

In response to Reuters’ questions about the allegations of immigration violations by subcontractors at the site, Hyundai Motor referred to a statement that said it has “zero tolerance for those who don’t follow the law” and would investigate the employment practices of suppliers and their subcontractors.

LGES said 47 of its employees were arrested in the Georgia raid, and warned the rest of its workers in the United States to leave or shelter at home.

There was no sign that any Hyundai employee was detained. Most of the people detained were employees of subcontractors, rather than direct employees, LGES and Hyundai Motor have said.

‘CUT CORNERS’
The detainees in Georgia are now set to be released and sent home, but the raid casts a shadow over business ties between the US and South Korea, a major source of foreign investment into the United States.

Foreign Ministry official Kim Dong-min told Reuters in July that a lack of proper work visas for contractors forced them to turn to the ESTA to travel to the US quickly, leading some to be denied US entry.

He was speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of a seminar on “visa refusals” held by Korea Battery Industry Association whose member companies include LGES and their suppliers.

South Korea has long called for creating a new U.S visa category for skilled workers similar to the ones for US free trade partners like Australia and Singapore, but the move has made little progress.

South Korea’s foreign minister departed for Washington on Monday, with visa reforms at the top of his agenda.

While Trump is pushing hard for investment, he said on Sunday that companies needed to hire and train American workers and respect immigration laws.

He also floated the idea that he would look at the possibility of some foreign manufacturing experts being allowed into the country to help train American workers.

US Department of Commerce official Andrew Gately warned South Korean companies and their contractors last year not to “cut corners” in visa applications.

“Please do not put your employees or the employees of your contractors at risk,” he said at a seminar in Seoul. — Reuters

TOKYO — US tariffs on Japanese goods including cars and auto parts are set to be lowered by September 16, Japan’s tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa said on Tuesday.

Citing a US Federal Register document dated September 9 that formalised President Donald Trump’s executive order on the US-Japan trade deal, Akazawa said in a press conference the revised tariff rates on Japanese goods will take effect within seven days from its publication.

Washington struck a trade deal with Tokyo in July, agreeing to reduce tariffs to 15% on Japanese goods, including autos, in exchange for a $550 billion package of US-bound investments and loans.

Trump’s signing of the order last week resolved some uncertainty over when the lower tariffs would be implemented.

But Akazawa reiterated on Tuesday that the trade talks have not been “settled”, saying that the most-favored-nation status for pharmaceuticals and semiconductors has not been included in the executive order.

A separate joint statement released last week said Japan would consistently receive the lowest tariff rates on chips and pharmaceuticals among all trade agreements negotiated by Washington. However, Akazawa said Japan would continue to urge the US to formalise the commitment through an executive order.

Asked if the $550 billion investment package could be used to finance Nippon Steel’s US Steel deal or SoftBank Group’s planned projects, Akazawa said it would be up to the US to select which initiatives receive funding. — Reuters

BANGKOK — Thailand’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra must serve one year in jail because his detention in a VIP wing of a hospital in lieu of prison was unlawful, in another major blow for a powerful family that has dominated politics for two decades.

The judges said Thaksin did not have severe illness and his hospitalisation could not be counted as time served, adding the responsibility did not solely lie with the doctors and that the polarising billionaire intentionally prolonged his hospital stay.

Thaksin was seen at the court removing his jacket and getting into a corrections department van.

In a statement on Facebook, the tycoon said he accepted the verdict and would stay strong.

“Today, I may no longer have freedom, but have freedom of thought to create benefit for the country and people,” Thaksin said.

The 76-year-old power-broker is experiencing a period of political reckoning after his daughter and protégé Paetongtarn Shinawatra was sacked as prime minister by a court on August 29 – the sixth premier from or backed by the Shinawatra family to be removed by the judiciary or military.

Following Paetongtarn’s sacking last month, days of chaos ensued before her government fell on Friday, outmaneuvred by challenger Anutin Charnvirakul, who was elected premier by parliament in a humiliating defeat for Thaksin’s once unstoppable Pheu Thai party.

On return from 15 years of self-imposed exile in 2023, Thaksin spent only a few hours in prison before being transferred to hospital complaining of heart trouble and chest pains, prompting widespread scepticism and public outrage.

His eight-year sentence for conflicts of interest and abuse of power was commuted to one year by the king and Thaksin was released on parole after just six months, the entirety of which he had spent in the VIP wing of a hospital.

A political ally of Thaksin who was in the courtroom said he took the decision well.

“He still has the fighting spirit, he told me he came back (from overseas) and was ready to face any situation, whether it’s good or bad,” Kokaew Pikulthong, a lawmaker for the Pheu Thai party, told reporters. — Reuters

WASHINGTON – Democrats in the US House of Representatives on Monday made public a birthday letter DoUSnald Trump allegedly wrote to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein more than 20 years ago, though the White House quickly denied its authenticity.

The letter, the existence of which was reported by the Wall Street Journal in July, appears to have been signed by Trump, but he has denied doing so and has said it does not exist.

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released the letter after Congress received the 2003 “birthday book” from Epstein’s lawyers. The letter is dated three years before allegations of sex abuse by Epstein became public in 2006.

Later on Monday, Republicans who control the Oversight Committee released hundreds of pages of documents turned over by Epstein’s lawyers, including the full “birthday book,” Epstein’s will and his 2007 non-prosecution agreement with prosecutors in Florida.

The birthday letter contains text of a purported dialogue between Trump and Epstein in which Trump calls him a “pal” and says, “May every day be another wonderful secret.” The text sits within a crude sketch of the silhouette of a naked woman.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich denounced the release, saying the signature on the letter was not Trump’s and alluded to Trump’s lawsuit against the Journal’s parent company, News Corp.
“Time for @newscorp to open that checkbook, it’s not his signature. DEFAMATION!” Budowich posted on X.

The case of Epstein, who died by suicide in prison in 2019, has caused a political headache for Trump after many of his supporters embraced a slew of conspiracy theories surrounding the convicted sex offender.

Republicans on the House Oversight panel last week released more than 33,000 pages of files related to Epstein in a bid to ward off a bipartisan vote that would have forced further disclosures.

Epstein’s victims and some members of Congress remain unsatisfied. Referring to Trump, House Democrats said on X on Monday, “What is he hiding? Release the files!”

After long suggesting that the files contain damaging information, Trump reversed course after returning to the White House. He has repeatedly labeled the matter a Democrat-led “hoax.”

The book, given to Epstein as a 50th birthday present, is filled with photos of bad haircuts, women and men including Epstein in tight bathing suits and reminiscences from childhood friends, former girlfriends, and people who came to know Epstein after he became wealthy.

It also includes messages to Epstein purported to be from famous people other than Trump, among them former US President Bill Clinton, Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz and former Bear Stearns CEO Alan “Ace” Greenberg.

The message allegedly from Clinton applauds Epstein for his “childlike curiosity” and his “drive to make a difference,” while Greenberg supposedly wrote, “Working with Jeffrey has been a pleasure and watching his meteoric success has given me many vicarious thrills.”

Clinton could not immediately be reached for comment after business hours. Dershowitz and a lawyer who represented him in Epstein-related civil litigation also could not be immediately reached. Greenberg died in 2014. — Reuters

The Murdoch family has reached a deal that will see Rupert Murdoch’s politically conservative eldest son Lachlan Murdoch cement control of the family media empire that includes Fox News and the Wall Street Journal.

The agreement, announced on Monday, ends a family brawl over who will control one of the highest-profile global media groups and puts to rest questions of succession within the Murdoch family after its patriarch’s death.

The drama is considered to be one of the inspirations for the television series “Succession,” about the infighting of the members of a media dynasty. Its real-life resolution preserves the conservative tilt of Murdoch’s media outlets.

Under the deal, Rupert’s children James Murdoch, Elisabeth Murdoch and Prudence MacLeod will receive cash from the sale of about 16.9 million shares of Fox Class B voting stock and about 14.2 million shares of News Corp’s Class B common stock. The amount of the payment was not disclosed.

One source said each of the children is expected to receive about $1.1 billion in proceeds.

They agreed to sell their personal holdings in Fox and News Corp over a period of six months, according to the announcement.

A new family trust will be created to benefit Lachlan Murdoch, and his younger siblings Grace and Chloe Murdoch, who are Rupert’s children from his marriage to Wendi Deng Murdoch. This trust, worth about $3.3 billion according to the source, will hold 36% of Fox’s Class B common stock and 33% of News Corp’s Class B shares, the companies’ statements said.

A battle over Rupert’s global television and publishing empire played out last autumn in a Reno, Nevada, courtroom, where a judge considered the contentious matter of succession.

Murdoch, 94, attempted to change the terms of the family’s trust, which was set up after his 1999 divorce from his second wife, Anna, and holds significant stakes in Fox News parent Fox Corp and Wall Street Journal owner News Corp.

Under the original trust, News Corp and Fox voting shares would have been transferred to Murdoch’s four oldest children – Prudence, Elisabeth, Lachlan and James – upon his death.

Murdoch worried that three of his heirs, James, Elisabeth and Prudence, could mount a coup to oust Lachlan, who serves as executive chairman of Fox and chairman of News Corp.

Murdoch had proposed an amendment to the trust that would block any interference by Lachlan’s siblings, who are more politically moderate, according to the New York Times, which obtained a sealed court document detailing the succession drama.

A Reno, Nevada, probate court rejected that plan in December, saying that Rupert and Lachlan had acted in “bad faith” in seeking to amend the irrevocable trust. That decision created a fresh opening for settlement talks, according to the source.

Fox News continues to be the number one U.S. cable news network, playing an influential role in U.S. politics, particularly among Republicans who prize its conservative-leaning audience.

“You know that there will always be a conservative guardian of Fox News. And frankly, if I were a shareholder. I would really think this was a very good move,” said Claire Enders, CEO and founder of UK-based media research firm Enders Analysis. — Reuters

HOUSTONUS – The US oil industry has laid off thousands of workers and cut billions in spending due to lower oil prices and the biggest consolidation in a generation, in what could mark the end of the rapid output growth that made the US the world’s top producer.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies in the OPEC+ producer group are increasing output to win back market share that was lost to the United States and other producers in recent years. OPEC+ agreed on Sunday to further raise production from October by 137,000 barrels per day.

Those increases have driven international oil prices down around 12% this year to just above breakeven levels for many US oil companies, prompting cuts in spending and jobs that industry officials say could curb production.

A plateau or fall in output would diminish the United States’ sway in global markets and challenge US President Donald Trump’s energy dominance agenda for the country.

ConocoPhillips – the third largest US oil producer – said last week it would cut up to 25% of its staff. That followed a similar announcement in February by rival Chevron, which said it would lay off 20% of its workforce, totaling roughly 8,000 people.

Oilfield service company SLB said it was reducing its workforce earlier this year, while Halliburton has cut staff in recent weeks.

Lower oil prices and rising costs have pushed 22 public US producers, including Occidental Petroleum Corp, ConocoPhillips, Diamondback Energy, to cut their capital expenditures by $2 billion, according to a Reuters analysis of second quarter earnings announcements. The analysis did not include oil majors Exxon or Chevron.

US oil rig count – an indicator of future activity – has fallen by about 69 to 414 this year, according to Baker Hughes.

“We’ve gone from ‘drill, baby, drill’ to ‘wait, baby wait’ here in the Permian,” said Kirk Edwards, president of Texas-based Latigo Petroleum, referring to the largest US oilfield.

The market needs oil prices to consistently trade around $70 to $75 a barrel for rigs to get back to work again, he said. US West Texas Intermediate futures CLc1 were trading at $62.15 a barrel on Monday, after settling at $61.87 on Friday.

“It’s having a very devastating effect on domestic employment and eventually it will affect our production,” said Edwards. “At some point US output growth will plateau and start to turn down, but that oil will be made up by OPEC.”

Many analysts are already forecasting a drop in production from the record 13.2 million barrels per day reached in 2024, powered by the country’s shale revolution.

Research firm Energy Aspects expects US onshore output to drop by 300,000 bpd in 2025 from last year, while rival Wood Mackenzie estimates US onshore growth from lower 48 US states of 200,000 bpd, the smallest increase since 2021 when COVID-19 ravaged demand.

Weekly production from the lower 48 US states stood around 13.4 million bpd in the last week of August, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration, below the peak 13.6 million bpd it touched in December last year.

“Modest crude production growth will slow even more as upstream activity stabilizes at a lower level and operators focus more on operational efficiency and capital discipline,” Energy Aspects analysts Jesse Jones and Paola Romero said in a note.

IDLE EQUIPMENT, FEWER JOBS
While US operators are dropping rigs, the US frac spread count – which measures equipment deployed to fracture subsurface rock and complete wells – has fallen by 39 so far this year to 162 as of last week, its lowest since February 2021, according to market consultancy Primary Vision.

“You can’t take 60 rigs and 20 to 30 frac spreads out of the Permian in three months and not eventually see a production response,” Diamondback Energy CEO Kaes Van’t Hof said in an earnings call in August.

“With volatility and uncertainty persisting, we see no compelling reason to increase activity this year,” he added.

Trump’s trade policies and tariffs have also pushed up costs of materials used in the industry such as steel and casings.

“There is a sense of inflation coming up, tariffs are having an impact, so therefore the global economy is going to be slowing, and demand is going to go down,” ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance said during a town hall meeting on Thursday.

Diamondback, another large driller in the Permian basin, said it expects the cost of steel casing for wells to increase almost 25% through the course of 2025 as Trump’s steel tariffs bite, raising the breakeven cost of nearly every well drilled in the United States this year.

The company said operating costs had risen to 35% of total spending compared with about 20% historically.

In a video message to employees announcing the layoffs, ConocoPhillips said controllable costs have risen by about $2 per barrel to $13 in 2024 from three years prior, making it harder for the company to compete.

“Tariffs have introduced some level of uncertainty and that’s manifesting with internationally sourced equipment alongside a trend of inflation,” the company said in August during its earnings call.

US oil and gas production jobs fell by 4,700 in the first six months of this year, Texas labor market statistics showed, while energy services jobs declined by about 23,000 to 628,062 in August from the start of this year, according to a report from the Energy Workforce & Technology Council.

To be sure, improved efficiencies from drilling have helped companies drop rigs, while holding production flat, but those improvements will not be enough to keep onshore US production rising, or even steady in some basins, analysts say.

“Trump administration’s policies are limiting drilling activity in places where there is potential for increases in supply and productivity,” said Josh Young, chief investment officer at energy investment firm Bison Interests. — Reuters