WASHINGTON: South Korea has agreed to invest billions of dollars in US energy projects, both governments said, but Seoul expressed regret on Thursday (Oct 1) that Washington's announcement "went beyond what had been agreed upon."
Seoul had previously agreed to invest US$350 billion in the United States and increase purchases of American energy under a July 2025 trade deal that set 15 per cent tariffs on imports from the East Asian nation.
US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday $200 billion in South Korean energy investments, including $54 billion for a liquified natural gas (LNG) project in Alaska.
"The United States and Korea have agreed to commence working together on the 50 Billion Dollar ALASKA LNG PROJECT," Trump wrote on his Truth Social account.
While Seoul has confirmed some planned investments, its trade ministry said in a statement that "no decision has been made whether to invest" in the Alaska project, including the "scale of any potential investment" in it.
"South Korea and the US share the understanding that the Alaska project will not proceed unless it is commercially viable," trade minister Kim Jung-kwan (pic) told a briefing.
"I expressed regret to US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick over the remarks that went beyond what had been agreed upon," he added.
The trade ministry confirmed that both sides intended to "proceed with a $22.3 billion natural gas power facility" in Texas, dedicated to "supplying power to co-located data centres."
Trump in his post said that the "huge 22 Billion Dollar, 6.4-gigawatt Natural Gas Fired Power Project in Encinal, Texas... will bring tremendous new, reliable Power Capacity to Texas."
The facility will provide 6,472 MW of energy to data centers also located in Encinal, a US Commerce Department statement said. It is expected to come fully online by 2032.
President Lee Jae Myung also said Thursday that Seoul would begin working on the Alaska project on the "condition that 1) its commercial viability is confirmed and 2) it complies with South Korea's legal procedures."
Lee said last month that negotiations had been "very complex and difficult" and that he had found some terms "difficult to accept," without elaborating further.
Beyond the Alaska and Texas projects, Trump said the two countries were "moving forward" with a $120 billion nuclear power programme to build eight large-scale reactors in the United States.
The figure includes $100 billion for construction costs and $20 billion in contingency reserves, the US Commerce Department said.
Lee said Thursday that the nuclear power project would likewise depend on the "commercial viability" of each individual reactor.
The US projects will be "pursued in a manner that serves the national interest," South Korea's trade ministry said.
The Alaska project, led by New York- and Houston-based developer Glenfarne Group, envisions an 800-mile (1,300-kilometre) pipeline carrying North Slope gas to a liquefaction facility near Anchorage for export to Asia.
While Alaska has decades of history as a petroleum producer, environmental concerns have historically constrained some developments.
But the Trump administration has largely brushed aside those concerns, canceling regulations to reduce emissions that are blamed for global warming.
Trump's industrial ramp-up envisioned for his widespread energy projects faces a potential labor shortfall, experts say.
The United States needs to fill an estimated 1.7 million skilled trade openings through 2035, according to a report released Wednesday by the Alliance for America's Skilled Trades, an organization of Ford, Blackstone, Nvidia and other large companies.
The report found today's training programs produce just 55 workers for every 100 needed. - AFP
