[Anchor]

US President Donald Trump abruptly announced projects in which South Korea will invest. However, he unilaterally disclosed an investment in the Alaska LNG project—a venture whose commercial viability has not yet been confirmed and on which negotiations with the South Korean government have not concluded. Critics point out that this move may be a political exploitation of South Korean investment ahead of the November midterm elections.

For our first report, we go to Washington with Correspondent Lee Hanseok.

[Reporter]

[Donald Trump / US President: Today, we are very excited to announce the largest energy infrastructure investment plan in US 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—approximately 280 trillion won—that South Korea has agreed to invest in the United States.

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

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, even though profitability is not guaranteed and the South Korean government has not yet decided whether to invest.

Furthermore, President Trump posted on social media that he met with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung in New York and agreed on the "start of investments" amounting to $200 billion, specifying the Alaska project as a "$50 billion venture," thereby pressuring South Korea.

Trump made no effort to hide his intention to support the Republican Senate candidate locked in a tight race in Alaska, claiming that 13,000 jobs would be created and even handing the microphone to the candidate.

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

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

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

It specified that the United States and South Korea have agreed to undertake the Alaska project on the condition that it meets commercial viability and all legal requirements.

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

(Camera: Oh Jeong-sik | Video Editing: Park Choon-bae)