South Korea has pushed back against a $54 billion investment announced by the Trump administration, turning a struggling project to export natural gas from Alaska into another potential sticking point in the allies’ long-running negotiations over trade.
On Wednesday, Trump touted the figure as part of a broader agreement for Seoul to invest $200 billion in US energy in exchange for lower tariffs on South Korean goods.
But South Korea later said it had given no firm commitment to the Alaska project.
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“Putting figures or using definitive language goes far beyond what was agreed,” Minister of Trade Industry and Resources Kim Jung-kwan said Thursday, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.
According to a statement from the US Department of Commerce on Wednesday, South Korea and the US had agreed to “commence working” on the Alaska project, “subject to commercial reasonableness.” It gave no figure for how much South Korea would invest in it.
CNN has reached out to the US Department of Commerce for comment.
When asked about the apparent discrepancy, White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told CNN that “Wednesday’s joint announcement was historic for the great state of Alaska, the United States, and the Republic of Korea.”
However, she did not directly address the comments from Jung-kwan.
“The president and Alaskans look forward to the construction and completion of this long-anticipated project that will create 12,000 construction jobs and 1,300 permanent operation jobs in the state, generate $25 billion in state and local revenue, and provide $10 billion in Alaska energy savings,” Rogers said.
The discrepancy between official accounts indicates clashing priorities that could hinder further negotiations between Washington and Seoul.
Trump also touted the energy deal on Truth Social on Friday, but made no mention of the dispute over South Korea’s commitment to the Alaska project.
“I am thrilled to announce the Republic of Korea Deal keeps getting BETTER!” Trump wrote. He said that producing more oil and gas would mean “American Energy Dominance and Energy Security.”
Relations between the long-term allies have become strained since Trump returned to office, including over the arrest of nearly 500 people, mostly Korean nationals, during an ICE raid at a Hyundai plant in Georgia that sparked outrage back home. The car maker is one of South Korea’s largest companies.
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In the US, energy security has become a focal point ahead of November’s midterm elections, as the war in Iran has hit global oil supply and increased the cost of gas and other everyday purchases.
And in Alaska, the pipeline project – estimated to cost between $45 and $55 billion – has entered the close Senate race between GOP incumbent Dan Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola.
On Wednesday, Sullivan’s office hailed what it described as the “historic $54 billion investment by South Korea” into the Alaska LNG project. CNN has called Sullivan’s office for further comment.
In a break from her party’s policies, Peltola has thrown her support behind the Alaska LNG project as way to lower energy costs for Alaskans.
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Energy security
South Korea is the world’s third-largest importer of liquefied natural gas. After the war in Iran disrupted Middle East supplies, Asian energy importers started buying more LNG from the US, which has become the world’s largest producer and exporter.
Kim, the Korean minister, said the country would carefully review whether to proceed with the Alaska LNG project. A joint statement said the US would facilitate the favorable involvement of Korean vendors if the project went through, and grant priority access to its LNG supply.
“The government will continue to put the national interest as priority and do its best to ensure that economic and trade relations between South Korea and the US develop into a stable and predictable partnership,” Kim added.
But the capital-intensive Alaska project, which would include 807 miles of pipeline and an LNG export facility, has been under development for over a decade and delayed by a lack of financing and purchase agreements.
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