Seoul and Washington had been at odds over tariffs for months.

After finally reaching the end stages of a trade deal, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung extended an olive branch to President Trump in an August White House meeting that was widely reported as an unexpected success.

Lee’s reward? An ICE operation targeting hundreds of South Korean nationals at a Hyundai factory in Georgia, touted by the Trump administration as the largest raid of its kind in ICE’s history.

Last week’s raid was an ominous signal not only to Seoul — a U.S. economic partner and frontline bastion against China and North Korea — but to American allies across the world. If workers from an allied country like South Korea can be targeted en masse, anyone could be next.

Footage of workers in shackles united South Koreans across the political spectrum in outrage, just months after a bitter political crisis triggered by former conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol’s declaration of martial law and removal from office.

An editorial by South Korea’s newspaper of record, The Chosun Ilbo,

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