Trump presents up to 200 billion in South Korean investments in the US

“ Graces to agreements that my administration has guaranteed with the Republic of Korea, will invest up to 200 billion dollars,” Donald Trump said on Wednesday, surrounded by various secretaries and managers of companies involved in these future investments.

Although he welcomed these projects, which “will further strengthen the alliance between South Korea and the United States,” the South Korean Ministry of Trade has attenuated Trump’s statements, stating that no decision has yet been made regarding the pipeline.

The Trump Administration also announced, in a statement, a power plant project in Texas, which will provide more than 6,400 MW of power to the data centers installed on site. The plant should be fully operational by 2032, the note should be specified.

U.S. Trade Secretary Howard Lutnick reinforced the message, stating that South Korea will “invest just under $200 billion of public funds in energy infrastructure to strengthen the US energy domain.”.

According to Lutnick, the most significant amount — up to $120 billion (106 billion) — is destined to build “eight huge nuclear power plants” in Ohio, Tennessee, South Carolina and Kentucky.

About 100 billion dollars (EUR 88 billion) is earmarked for construction costs and EUR 20 billion (17.6 billion) for unforeseen events, details the ministry's statement, which adds that 10 billion dollars (€8.8 billion) will be made available by the end of the year.

The pipeline project, in turn, aims to transport the gas extracted from northern Alaska over 1,300 kilometers to a port in the south of this U.S. state, where it will be transformed into LNG (liquefied natural gas) and exported by ship to Asia, the main market.

However, this large-scale project has raised criticism, particularly from biodiversity advocates, as well as uncertainties regarding implementation, related to cost problems and economic viability issues, which have made progress difficult.

Seoul denied, moreover, that any decision has already been taken.

“ The LNG project in Alaska will be analyzed, provided it is commercially viable and subject to relevant national legal procedures,” the South Korean Ministry of Trade indicated in a statement.

“ No decision was made on the possibility of investing in this project or on the size of any potential investment,” he added.

The project, if implemented, should generate 12,000 jobs during construction, with priority given to local workers, and then up to a thousand jobs in the operational phase.

Construction should take three years from the release of funding, and LNG exports should begin two years after completion of the works, according to the detailed schedule on Wednesday during the presentation at the White House.