Trump Announces “Korea to Invest in Texas Power Plant, Eight Nuclear Plants, and Alaska LNG” (Update)

Fact-Checking Required on South Korean Government's Announcement

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on September 30 (local time) a series of investment projects related to South Korea’s $350 billion strategic investment package in the United States, including the construction of a gas power plant in Texas, eight large-scale nuclear power plants, and the development of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Alaska.

U.S. President Donald Trump is announcing South Korea's investment plans in the United States on the 30th (local time). White House website

On that day, President Trump, together with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and others, unveiled South Korea’s investment plans for the United States at the White House Oval Office.

This announcement marks the first time that the United States has specified the individual projects making up South Korea’s $350 billion investment package, which was pledged on the condition that the U.S. side lowers its reciprocal tariffs from 25% to 15%.

According to foreign media, the projects presented by the United States included a combined-cycle gas power plant in Texas, the construction of eight large nuclear power plants in the U.S., and the development of Alaska’s LNG resources. The U.S. government disclosed that the investment scale of these projects was approximately $200 billion.

In particular, it was mentioned that about $54 billion of South Korea’s strategic investment funds would be channeled into the Alaska LNG project. This initiative involves transporting natural gas from the North Slope of Alaska via an 800-mile (1,300 km) pipeline to liquefaction facilities in Nikiski in southern Alaska, from where it will be exported to Asia in a large-scale project.

This announcement came roughly eleven months after President Lee Jaemyung and President Trump agreed on the strategic U.S. investment initiative at the Korea-U.S. summit held in Gyeongju last year, making it the first detailed business plan released since the agreement.

However, there are differences between the scope of projects announced by the United States and the projects that the South Korean government has finalized thus far.

The South Korean government has primarily been promoting, as a priority investment project, the construction of a 6 GW combined-cycle gas power plant in Encinal, Texas, with an investment of approximately $22.3 billion. In contrast, the construction of the eight large nuclear power plants and the Alaska LNG project have been categorized as follow-up negotiation issues, requiring additional review in terms of commercial viability and financial burden.

Ongoing debates surround the Alaska LNG project due to its enormous initial investment requirements, the potential for increased construction costs, and concerns over price competitiveness with LNG from the U.S. Gulf Coast and Canada.

Therefore, it remains to be confirmed whether President Trump’s announcement indicates a final investment commitment from the Korean government or if it simply represents the U.S. side’s early disclosure of potential investment candidates that the two countries will continue to discuss.

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