The U.S. and South Korea have announced "historic" investments by Seoul into America, with President Donald Trump saying the $200 billion in new investments will help transform his country "for generations." South Korean investment include nuclear power plants, a natural gas power facility in Texas and potentially the long-planned Alaska LNG project. "We are thrilled to announce one of the largest energy infrastructure investments in American history," Trump said at the White House on Wednesday, adding that South Korea would invest up to $200 billion.
South Korea's participation in the Alaska LNG project is not yet finalized. The joint statement said that it would be contingent on "commercial reasonableness," with no details on allocations toward the project. Trump, however, in a Truth Social post late Wednesday stateside said the countries had agreed to work on the Alaska LNG project, pegging its value at $50 billion.
South Korea has stopped short of committing to that project over questions about its commercial viability. Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan described it last year as a "high-risk" and said participation would be difficult unless it could generate sufficient cash flow, according to Yonhap News.
The Alaska LNG project would transport natural gas roughly 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 including Asia, reported Yonhap. The project has faced longstanding questions over its economics given the large upfront investment required.
The joint statement said Washington would facilitate the favorable involvement of Korean vendors and suppliers in the project. Overall, the investment package includes $22.3 billion for a 6,472-megawatt natural gas power facility in Encinal, Texas, that will supply electricity to co-located data centers.
The project will be led by developer Related Companies and U.S. power company NextEra Energy, with the first phase expected to begin commercial operations in 2029 and the full facility coming online 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, adding power capacity in the United States," Trump said. "This is new construction, new manufacturing, and great jobs for American workers." The two countries said they would seek to expand Korean companies' participation in the Texas project across equipment supply, engineering and construction, as well as long-term operations and maintenance. also intends to give Korean companies opportunities to supply equipment, including turbines, to similar projects in the country.
Another $120 billion has been allocated to plans for eight large-scale nuclear reactors in the U.S. Of that amount, $100 billion is earmarked for construction costs and $20 billion for contingency reserves. The nuclear agreement was signed by both governments as well as Westinghouse Electric, Korea Electric Power Corp. and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power.
The plan also calls for pursuing a potential significant minority investment in Westinghouse by Korean companies, with the terms subject to commercial negotiations