[Anchor]
The government reported the specific details of its investment project in the United States to the National Assembly yesterday. As previously known, a combined-cycle gas turbine power plant to be built in Texas has become the "first project," and the construction of nuclear power plants in the U.S. and the Alaska LNG project were also included in the promotion plans.
This is Son Hyeong-an reporting.
[Reporter]
Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Kim Jeong-kwan visited the National Assembly yesterday to provide a closed-door report on the U.S. investment projects.
[Kim Jeong-kwan / Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy : The projects have been closely examined with commercial rationality as our consistent principle. We would like to report on one project for which the government has decided its intention to pursue.]
It was learned that the "first project" confirmed first is the construction of a combined-cycle gas power plant in the Encinal area of Texas, U.S.
With a total project cost of 22.3 billion dollars, the government reportedly briefed the National Assembly that it can recover the principal and interest by earning up to 45 billion dollars over the next 20 years.
Concerns were raised, centered around opposition lawmakers.
[Koo Ja-keun / People Power Party Lawmaker : Because it is in the development stage, I conveyed that caution must be exercised regarding the aspect of commercial rationality.]
There were also contents reported to the National Assembly stating, "Although nothing has been finalized yet, these are two project promotion plans reflecting the interest of both South Korea and the U.S."
They are the construction of eight nuclear power plants in the U.S. and the Alaska LNG development project.
Regarding these two projects, there have previously been evaluations that the risks compared to the investment are large.
In connection with the nuclear power plant construction project, Minister Kim reportedly reported that they are "negotiating with the goal of securing a 5 to 10 percent stake" in the U.S. nuclear firm Westinghouse and that securing voting rights is also possible, while regarding the Alaska LNG investment, he reportedly reported that "it is still premature to judge commercial viability as the project has not materialized yet."
The government is also known to have clearly stated the principle that the total execution scale of the U.S. investment will not exceed 200 billion dollars, which is the limit of the U.S. investment fund.
(Video reporting: Lee Seung-hwan, Shin Dong-hwan | Video editing: Wi Won-yang)
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