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Raid saw the detention of 475 workers, mostly South

Koreans

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Hyundai to source batteries from other plants during delay

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Other LG plant workers asked to return home after raid

(Adds Hyundai Motor executive chairman in paragraphs 8-9)

By Nora Eckert

DETROIT, Sept 11 (Reuters) - A battery plant co-owned by

Hyundai Motor ( HYMLF ) is facing a minimum startup delay of

two to three months following an immigration raid last week,

Hyundai CEO Jose Munoz said on Thursday.

The Georgia plant, which is operated through a joint venture

between Hyundai and South Korea's LG Energy Solution

, was at the center of the largest single-site

enforcement operation in the U.S. Department of Homeland

Security's history last week.

Munoz, in his first public comments since the raid, said he

was surprised when he heard the news and immediately inquired if

Hyundai workers were involved. He said the company discovered

that the workers at the center of the raid were mainly employed

by suppliers of LG.

"For the construction phase of the plants, you need to

get specialized people. There are a lot of skills and equipment

that you cannot find in the United States," Munoz said on the

sidelines of an automotive conference in Detroit.

The plant, part of a $7.6 billion factory complex to

make battery-powered models, was slated to come online later

this year.

About 475 workers, including more than 300 South Koreans,

were arrested, according to U.S. immigration officials. The raid

was conducted over suspicions about the "unlawful" visa and

immigration status of workers at the site, U.S. officials have

said.

A plane carrying the workers is flying them home from

Atlanta, after Seoul and Washington agreed to their release and

to discuss setting up a

visa programme

for workers needed at such sites being constructed by South

Korean businesses.

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung said on

Thursday he was "really worried about that incident" but was

relieved the workers were returning home to South Korea.

"Maybe our government and the U.S. government, they are

working closely, and the visa regulation is very complicated,"

Chung said at the Detroit conference. "And I hope we can make it

together a better system."

It is typical for an automotive battery plant to employ

these workers as it is getting off the ground, Munoz said.

Munoz said Hyundai will source batteries from other plants

as it waits for the LG plant to start up, including from a

Georgia plant co-owned with Korean battery-maker SK On.

Fallout from the raid has cascaded across the country.

Reuters first reported that workers at other LG plants,

including those co-owned by GM, were asked to return home.