South Korea already pledged $350 billion under last year’s tariff deal
At the Oval Office on Wednesday, the Trump administration presented the Alaska LNG project as a near-term South Korean commitment. “This alone will be one of the largest energy projects in American history and a gigantic win for the people of Alaska,” Trump said. Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Republican facing a tight re-election race in November, also spoke at the briefing and said, “This one is huge for Alaska.” Sullivan’s office later touted a “historic $54 billion Korean investment” into the state’s LNG pipeline.
But the written record released the same day made no such commitment. The joint fact sheet issued by the Commerce Department made no mention of a dollar figure and said the two countries would “commence working” on the Alaska LNG project subject to certain commercial requirements. South Korea’s Industry Ministry, in a parallel statement, said the two countries had agreed to “initiate a review” of the pipeline deal.
At a Thursday press briefing in Seoul, Kim objected to the U.S. characterization. “Putting out figures, or using definitive language, goes far beyond what was agreed,” Kim said. He added that Lutnick had conveyed his understanding of Seoul’s concerns about the deal and that he expects both sides to eventually follow up with more talks about the project. The White House, Commerce Department and U.S. Embassy in Seoul did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The dispute adds a new wrinkle to the protracted and often contentious negotiations between Washington and Seoul over last year’s trade pact. Under that agreement, South Korea pledged $350 billion in U.S. investments plus an additional $100 billion for American energy purchases in exchange for dropping tariffs on most Korean goods from 25% to 15%. The two sides spent months working out the details. Two of the resulting projects, previously reported by The Wall Street Journal, involve the construction of a natural-gas power plant and eight nuclear reactors. Trump said Wednesday that those two investments together exceed $140 billion; South Korea does not dispute those deals.
A South Korean investment pledge of more than $50 billion, if confirmed, would likely encompass much, if not all, of the total cost of the new pipeline.
The Alaska LNG project first emerged in 2014. The plan is to pipe natural gas from Alaska’s far north, liquefy it and export it. The first potential delivery to Asia is at least several years away. Over the years, plans involving backers including ExxonMobil, BP and Chinese investors fell through. Several years ago, both Japan and South Korea rebuffed U.S. overtures to invest in the Alaskan pipeline.
The Senate, currently controlled by Republicans, is seen as a tossup in November. Trump carried Alaska by more than 13 percentage points in 2024, but his approval rating has dropped to 37% — the lowest mark for any president heading into a midterm election according to Journal polls dating to 1990.