Trump Announces South Korean Investment in Alaska LNG Before Agreement Finalized

[Anchor]

US President Donald Trump abruptly announced a series of investment projects that South Korea is set to make in the United States. However, he unilaterally disclosed an investment in the Alaska LNG project, for which consultations with the South Korean government have not even been finalized as its economic viability remains unconfirmed. Critics point out that this move exploits South Korean investment for political purposes ahead of the November midterm elections.

Our first report comes from Washington, correspondent Lee Hanseok.

[Reporter]

[Donald Trump / US President]: Today, we are very excited to announce the largest energy infrastructure investment plan in American history.

Touting his tariff policies and the achievements of his investment agreements, US President Trump listed three projects that will kick off with up to 200 billion dollars, approximately 280 trillion won, that South Korea has decided to invest in the United States.

[Donald Trump / US President]: The South Korean government is investing up to 200 billion dollars. We are building a 6-gigawatt power plant in Texas, constructing eight new large-scale nuclear reactors, and finally, the Alaska LNG pipeline will be built as well.

In addition to the Texas combined-cycle gas turbine power plant and eight nuclear power plants, he unilaterally finalized and announced the Alaska LNG project—a venture for which the South Korean government has not yet decided whether to invest due to unassured profitability.

Furthermore, Trump posted on social media that he met with President Lee Jae-myung in New York and agreed on the launch of a 200 billion dollar investment, explicitly specifying the Alaska project as a 50 billion dollar scale to pressure South Korea.

Trump made no effort to hide his intentions to support the Republican Senate candidate locked in a tight race in Alaska, mentioning that 13,000 jobs would be created and even handing the floor to the candidate just 30 days ahead of the midterm elections.

Commerce Secretary Lutnick also named swing states as the sites where the nuclear power plants will be built.

[Howard Lutnick / US Commerce Secretary]: The nuclear power plants are scheduled to be built in Ohio, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Kentucky.

However, the official press release from the US Department of Commerce differs from Trump's remarks.

The release explicitly states that the US and South Korea have agreed to undertake the Alaska project under the premise that it meets commercial viability and all legal requirements.

Analysts suggest that this reflects Trump's political calculation to maximize domestic economic achievements ahead of the November midterm elections.

(Video reporting: Oh Jung-shik, Video editing: Park Choon-bae)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.