South Korea’s $200 billion investment in the United States, which President Donald Trump said would transform America “for generations,” is not a big-picture deal.
South Korea’s investment plan includes nuclear power plants, a natural gas-fired power plant in Texas and potentially the long-planned Alaska LNG project.
Trump, in a Truth Social article Wednesday evening in the United States, said the countries had agreed to work on the Alaska LNG project, setting its value at $50 billion, prompting a response from South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, who stressed that involvement in some of the projects remains subject to commercial considerations.
Lee in an article on Thursday local time said participation in the Alaska LNG project depends on its financial viability and legal compliance. He added that investments in nuclear power plants would also require an assessment of commercial viability on a plant-by-plant basis.
Trump had praised South Korean investments in his post Wednesday evening in the United States, saying the countries had agreed to work on the Alaska LNG project, pegging its value at $50 billion.
Wednesday’s joint statement, however, mentioned that work on the project was dependent on “commercial reasonableness”, without giving details of the allocations allocated to the project.
The Alaska LNG project aims to transport natural gas about 1,300 kilometers from fields on Alaska’s North Slope to the southern part of the state, where it would be liquefied for export to markets such as Asia, Yonhap reported. The project has long faced questions about its profitability, given the large initial investment required.
Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan called it “high risk” last year and said participation would be difficult unless sufficient cash flow was generated.
In total, the investment program includes $22.3 billion for a 6,472-megawatt natural gas-fired power plant in Encinal, Texas, which will provide electricity to co-located data centers. The project will be led by developer Related Companies and US power company NextEra Energy, with the first phase expected to begin commercial operations in 2029 and the full facility commissioned in stages by 2032.
Trump said the investments would turn South Korea’s commitments into “huge construction projects” and create “tens of thousands of American jobs.”
“These are massive energy projects, which increase America’s electrical capacity,” Trump said. “It’s about new construction, new manufacturing and great jobs for American workers.”
The two countries said they would seek to expand the participation of Korean companies in the Texas project in the areas of equipment supply, engineering and construction, and long-term operation and maintenance. The United States also intends to give Korean companies the opportunity to supply equipment, including turbines, to similar projects in the country.
Another $120 billion was allocated for projects for eight large-scale nuclear reactors in the United States. Of that amount, $100 billion is earmarked for construction costs and $20 billion for contingency reserves.
The nuclear deal was signed by the two governments as well as Westinghouse Electric, Korea Electric Power Corp. and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power. The plan also calls for the continuation of a possible significant minority investment in Westinghouse by Korean companies, with terms subject to commercial negotiations.
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