01/10/2026
US President Donald Trump announced Wednesday $200 billion in South Korean energy investments, including $54 billion for a long-mooted Alaska LNG project that Seoul said had yet to be decided on.
South Korea had previously agreed to invest $350 billion in the United States and increase purchases of US energy under a July 2025 trade deal with Trump that set 15 percent tariffs on imports from the East Asian nation.
Besides the Alaska LNG project and pipeline, the Trump administration announced a $22.3 billion natural gas-fired power project in Texas that would be backed by South Korea.
"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 Thursday, Seoul time.
"A huge 22 Billion Dollar, 6.4-gigawatt Natural Gas Fired Power Project in Encinal, Texas. This will bring tremendous new, reliable Power Capacity to Texas," he added.
The facility in Texas 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.
Seoul confirmed Thursday 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 centers."
But it said the Alaska LNG project "will be considered on the condition that it is commercially viable and subject to relevant domestic legal procedures."
"No decision has been made regarding whether to invest in the project or the scale of any potential investment," South Korea's trade ministry said in a statement.
- Commercial viability -
President Lee Jae Myung also said Thursday that Seoul would begin working on it 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 on the projects had been "very complex and difficult," adding 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 projects in the US 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-kilometer) 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.
