Noem says roundup of Koreans at Hyundai plant in Georgia won't deter investment in the US

LONDON (AP) — U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Monday she doesn’t think the detention of hundreds of South Koreans in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant in Georgia will deter investment in the United States because such tough actions mean there is no uncertainty about the Trump administration’s policies.

The detention of 475 workers, more than 300 of them South Korean, in the Sept. 4 raid has caused confusion, shock and a sense of betrayal among many in the U.S.-allied nation.

“This is a great opportunity for us to make sure that all companies are reassured that when you come to the United States, you’ll know what the rules of the game are,” Noem said at a meeting in London of ministers from the “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing partnership focused on border security.

“We’re encouraging all companies who want to come to the United States and help our economy and employ people, that we encourage them to employ U.S. citizens and to bring people to our country that want to follow our laws and work here the right way,” she told reporters.

The detained Koreans would be deported after most were detained for ignoring removal orders, while “a few” had engaged in other criminal activity and will “face the consequences," Noem said.

Newly appointed U.K. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood welcomed Noem and ministers from Canada, Australia and New Zealand to the 18th-century headquarters of the Honourable Artillery Company for talks on countering unauthorized migration, child sexual abuse and the spread of opioids.

Mahmood, who was given the interior minister job in a shakeup of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Cabinet on Friday, said the ministers would “agree new measures to protect our borders with our Five Eyes partners, hitting people-smugglers hard.”

The far-flung countries are close allies with some common problems but also widely differ in their approaches to migration. The Trump administration’s program of street raids, mass detentions and large-scale deportations of unauthorized migrants has drawn domestic and international criticism and a host of legal challenges.

Noem said there had not been disagreements among the ministers in talks focused on sharing information on criminal gangs, using technology to disrupt their networks and speeding extradition arrangements.

“I don’t think that the discussion today has covered politics at all,” she said. “It is what resources do we have that we can share so we can each protect our countries better?”

Noem said that “when we put tough measures in place, the more that we can talk about that and share that is an inspiration to other countries to do the same.”

She denied a plan to expand immigration raids and deploy the National Guard in Chicago, which has met with opposition from local and state authorities, was on hold.

“Nothing’s on hold. Everything is full speed ahead,” Noem told reporters, saying “we can run as many operations every single day as we need to, to keep America safe.”

Also attending Monday's talks were Canadian Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree, Australia’s Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke and Judith Collins, the attorney general and defense minister of New Zealand.

Britain’s center-left Labour government is struggling to bring down the number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats, some 30,000 so far this year. It faces calls from opposition parties to leave the European Convention on Human Rights in order to take tougher action.

The government says it won’t do that, but may tweak the interpretation of the rights convention in British law. It has struck a deal with France to return some migrants who cross the channel and is working on similar agreements with other countries.

Mahmood said Monday that the U.K. could suspend issuing visas to people from countries that do not agree to take back their citizens with no right to remain in Britain, though she did not name any potential countries.

“We do expect countries to play ball, play by the rules, and if one of your citizens has no right to be in our country, you do need to take them back,” she said.

Britain's Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, left, and United States Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, center, pet a dog during the Five Country Ministerial meeting at the Honourable Artillery Company in London, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

From left, New Zealand's Minister Judith Collins, Canada Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree, Britain's Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, Australia Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke and United States Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem arrive for a family photo during the Five Country Ministerial meeting at the Honourable Artillery Company in London, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025 as interior ministers of the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand will discuss some of the major security threats facing our nations. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

United States Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks to media during the Five Country Ministerial meeting at the Honourable Artillery Company in London, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025 as interior ministers of the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand will discuss some of the major security threats facing their nations. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem speaks to the media during the Five Country Ministerial meeting at the Honourable Artillery Company in London, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Britain's Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, left, greets United States Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem prior to the Five Country Ministerial meeting at the Honourable Artillery Company in London, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025 as interior ministers of the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand will discuss some of the major security threats facing our nations. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Britain's Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, left, greets Australia Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke prior to the Five Country Ministerial meeting at the Honourable Artillery Company in London, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025 as interior ministers of the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand will discuss some of the major security threats facing our nations. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Britain's Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, left, greets New Zealand's Minister Judith Collins prior to the Five Country Ministerial meeting at the Honourable Artillery Company in London, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025 as interior ministers of the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand will discuss some of the major security threats facing our nations. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Britain's Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, right, greets Canada Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree prior to the Five Country Ministerial meeting at the Honourable Artillery Company in London, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025 as interior ministers of the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand will discuss some of the major security threats facing our nations. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Britain's Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, left, greets United States Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem prior to the Five Country Ministerial meeting at the Honourable Artillery Company in London, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025 as interior ministers of the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand will discuss some of the major security threats facing our nations. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s government is expected to approve a “mega” Chinese Embassy close to London’s financial district after years of controversy and political wrangling over the potential security risks it poses to the U.K.

Lawmakers from across the spectrum have urged planning officials to reject China’s application for the new embassy. Critics fear the proposed new building, on a huge site close to London’s financial district and crucial data cables, will be used as a base for espionage. Others say the supersized embassy — set to be the biggest Chinese Embassy in Europe — will pose a heightened threat of surveillance and intimidation to Chinese dissidents in exile.

The decision was initially slated for October, but it was repeatedly postponed after multiple allegations of Chinese spying and political interference piled pressure on the British government.

British media have reported that the decision to approve the embassy will come this week, ahead of Prime Minister Keir Starmer's expected trip to China. The closely watched visit would be the first made by a British prime minister since 2018.

A final decision on the embassy is expected by Jan. 20, the deadline set by the government.

Here's a look at why the embassy has been the focus of protests and Sino-British tensions for years:

The proposed embassy at Royal Mint Court — the former site of the U.K.’s coin maker, near the Tower of London — will cover about 20,000 square meters (215,278 square feet) and replace several Chinese official buildings across London.

Critics say the new site sits too close to underground fiber optic cables carrying sensitive financial information between London’s two main financial districts.

Conservative Party lawmaker Alicia Kearns said that risks handing over access to data that would give China’s government “a launchpad for economic warfare against our nation.” She cited news reports that the building complex would include 208 secret basement rooms close to the data cables.

Dissidents have also been among hundreds of people who have protested the plans, saying a mega-embassy housing large numbers of officials would further China’s repression of activists abroad.

Lawmakers from the governing Labour Party who oppose the plan say concerns include “the recent track record of Chinese espionage cases, interference activities and issuing of bounties against U.K.-based Hong Kongers.”

The site was bought by China’s government for 225 million pounds ($301 million) in 2018, but plans for the embassy have been delayed since.

Local officials rejected the initial application over concerns that the embassy would attract many large protests, affecting the safety of residents and tourists. China resubmitted its proposals after the Labour government took power last year.

Bronwen Maddox, director of the London think tank Chatham House, said she believed Britain's government should approve the proposed mega-embassy “given that MI5 and MI6 (U.K. intelligence agencies) have said they are not worried about the city cables underneath it."

“I guess that you could see why there is cause for concern, but what I think the government should be much tougher on is what exactly is China going to do with that embassy, never mind the building; what about the people in it? Why does it need so many? What are they going to do?"

China has complained about the seven-year delay in approving the project, saying the U.K. was “constantly complicating and politicizing the matter.”

“The development scheme of the new Chinese Embassy is of high quality and has been highly recognized by local professional bodies,” the Chinese embassy said in a statement in October. “The application complies with diplomatic practice and local regulations and procedures.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian has warned that if the embassy isn’t approved, “the consequences arising therefrom shall be borne by the U.K. side.”

Recent high-profile cases involving alleged Chinese espionage have raised alarms about the embassy.

In November, the domestic intelligence agency, MI5, issued an alert to lawmakers warning that Chinese agents were making “targeted and widespread” efforts to recruit and cultivate them using LinkedIn or cover companies.

Authorities believe the alleged “headhunters” were trying to gain access to sensitive information about Parliament and Britain’s government.

Beijing has strongly denied the claims, calling them “pure fabrication and malicious slander.”

Earlier, Britain’s government faced questions on whether it had interfered in the trial of two alleged Chinese spies in order to preserve good ties with China.

Former parliamentary researcher Christopher Cash and academic Christopher Berry were charged last year with spying for Beijing. But their trial collapsed at the last minute because the U.K. government refused to brand China a threat to national security, the country’s chief prosecutor said.

Facing criticism that he is not taking a tough enough stance on the security risks, Starmer has stressed that while protecting national security is non-negotiable, Britain needs to keep up diplomatic dialogue and cooperation with the Asian superpower.

“This is not a question of balancing economic and security considerations. We don’t trade off security in one area, for a bit more economic access somewhere else,” he has said.

Last year, Starmer said Chinese President Xi Jinping personally raised the matter during a phone call.

Opposition lawmaker Priti Patel derided Starmer as “Beijing’s useful idiot in Britain.”

“Starmer’s ‘reset’ with Beijing is a naive one-way street, which puts Britain at risk while Beijing gets everything it wants,” she said.

Associated Press writer Danica Kirka contributed to this report.

FILE - Protesters hold umbrellas, placards, and flags as they demonstrate against the proposed building of a new Chinese embassy, and to mark the 11th year of the Umbrella Revolution in Hong Kong, in London, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Joanna Chan, file)

FILE - Protesters hold umbrellas, placards, and flags as they demonstrate against the proposed building of a new Chinese embassy, and to mark the 11th year of the Umbrella Revolution in Hong Kong, in London, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Joanna Chan, file)