Special Act on Investment in the United States Passes National Assembly, Establishing Legal Foundation for $350 Billion Investment

Establishment of Korea-U.S. Strategic Investment Corporation and Fund
Annual Investment Cap Set at $20 Billion

At the plenary session of the March extraordinary National Assembly held on the 12th, the Special Act on Strategic Investment Management between Korea and the United States (Special Act on Investment in the United States) was passed. 2026.3.12 Photo by Hyunmin Kim

With the passage of the Special Act on Investment in the United States by the National Assembly, a domestic legal foundation has been established for the $350 billion investment plan in the United States.

On March 12, the National Assembly approved the “Special Act on Strategic Investment Management between the Republic of Korea and the United States of America (Special Act on Investment in the United States)” at a plenary session.

Previously, immediately after signing the memorandum of understanding (MOU), the government prepared the special act and submitted it to the National Assembly on November 26 of last year. After that, a total of nine bills, including those separately sponsored by ruling and opposition party lawmakers, were consolidated and reviewed together, and the bill passed the Assembly after about four months.

The special act stipulates the framework for Korea’s strategic investment in the United States, methods of securing financial resources, and the decision-making structure. The law defines "strategic investment" as the $200 billion in U.S.-agreed investments and $150 billion in shipbuilding cooperation, totaling $350 billion. Target sectors include strategic industries such as shipbuilding, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, critical minerals, energy, artificial intelligence (AI), and quantum computing.

U.S.-bound investments must, in principle, be pursued based on "commercial viability." However, if there are unavoidable reasons such as supply chain stability or national security, investments may proceed with prior approval from the relevant standing committee of the National Assembly.

A separate investment decision-making structure will also be established. A "Project Management Committee" set up within the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will review the commercial, strategic, and legal elements of candidate projects. Subsequently, the "Steering Committee" will deliberate and decide on whether to proceed with the project, considering the financial status of the fund.

The procedures for promoting investments are also specified step by step. After the Project Management Committee’s review and the Steering Committee’s resolution, a prior report is made to the National Assembly’s standing committee. Thereafter, investment consultations with the United States are conducted through the Korea-U.S. Consultative Committee. The final investment execution is decided after recommendations from the U.S. Investment Committee and the selection of investment destinations by the U.S. President.

In light of the economic risks associated with large-scale investments, safeguards have also been established. U.S.-bound investments will be capped at a maximum of $20 billion per year, and if there are concerns about instability in the foreign exchange market, the timing and scale of investments may be adjusted. In cases where it is deemed difficult to recover principal and interest from individual investment projects, the cash flow distribution ratio can be negotiated with the United States.

Under the new law, the “Korea-U.S. Strategic Investment Corporation” will be established. The government plans for the corporation to manage and operate the strategic investment fund. The corporation will be established with government capital, with a statutory capital of 2 trillion won. It will operate for up to 20 years as a temporary entity and will be dissolved according to the law.

The fund’s resources will be raised through government contributions, foreign currency assets entrusted by the Bank of Korea and the Foreign Exchange Equalization Fund, and the issuance of government-guaranteed bonds. The resources will be used for U.S. investments and financial support for shipbuilding cooperation investments. The government is required to submit an annual report to the National Assembly evaluating the status of fund operation and the economic impact of strategic investments.

The government plans to begin follow-up procedures with the goal of implementing the law three months after its promulgation. Immediately after promulgation, a corporation establishment committee will be launched, and work on subordinate legislation will proceed in parallel.

Kim Jeonggwan, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, said, “The passage of this special act demonstrates the commitment of both the government and the National Assembly to stably maintain the Korea-U.S. tariff agreement and strengthen strategic cooperation,” adding, “It will serve as an opportunity to expand cooperation in strategic industries such as shipbuilding and energy, and to broaden opportunities for Korean companies to enter the U.S. market.”

Until the law goes into effect, the government will conduct preliminary reviews of candidate U.S. investment projects within the scope of what is administratively possible, and the final investment decisions and execution will be made after the law comes into force, comprehensively considering the commercial viability of the projects and foreign exchange market conditions.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.