President Donald Trump appears to have gotten ahead of himself this week amid long-running negotiations with South Korea, which could hamper trade relations between the two countries.
Since securing a $350 billion trade deal last year, Trump has sought to parlay Seoul’s commitment to U.S. energy projects in exchange for a lower tariff rate of 15 percent, down from 25 percent, on South Korean goods.
He touted part of that trade — $54 billion — at an Oval Office event Wednesday. The South Korean investment is believed to be for a troubled natural gas project in Alaska.
He then promoted it again on Truth Social, saying the two countries have “agreed to start working together” on the “50 billion ALASKA LNG PROJECT.”
But Seoul said it had not made any firm commitments to the Alaska project because it had not been fully examined from the perspective of commercial and legal requirements.
South Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Resources Kim Jung-kwan spoke at a press briefing in Sejong on Thursday about the outlandish figures.
“Giving numbers or using definitive language goes far beyond what was agreed,” Jung-kwan said, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency. “The Alaska Project will only proceed if it is commercially viable.”
He said he raised his objection with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Thursday morning and expressed disappointment that the U.S. announcement overstepped the agreement, according to a major Korean media outlet.
Trump then posted again on Thursday after Jung-kwan’s response, saying the two countries “agreed to launch $200 billion in new investments in AMERICA!”
He went on to list a $120 billion nuclear program and other U.S. energy increases as part of this nuclear power, gas and oil deal.
The disconnect between Trump’s definitive public assertion and Seoul’s explicit denial that it had reached a firm LNG commitment in Alaska suggests that the administration announced a headline-grabbing energy victory before securing the underlying investment decision.
In the energy world, the Seoul public’s hesitation adds to long-standing doubts about the viability of the expensive and long-delayed Alaska LNG project, which still lacks a final investment decision and enough binding agreements with buyers to secure financing.
Trump gave the public another update on the negotiations Friday morning in his unfiltered Internet log, saying: “Republic of Korea deal keeps getting better! $8.4 billion for improved oil recovery project.”
South Korea also pushed back on the announcement, saying the oil project was not part of the same aforementioned energy investment, according to Reuters.
White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers did not respond to Jungkwan’s comments when she told CNN: “Wednesday’s joint announcement was historic for the great state of Alaska, the United States and the Republic of Korea.” »
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
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