Key points
- Trump threatens to "double" an unnamed charge
- Seoul says Alaska LNG is still under review
- Korea says the oil project isn't in the deal
President Donald Trump said on Oct. 2 that he would charge South Korea more unless it agreed to invest in Alaska LNG. The threat came two days after he announced a $54 billion Korean investment that Seoul said it had not approved.
Asked at the White House whether he had announced the deal too early, Trump said, "I didn't jump the gun," adding that Korean representatives had taken part in the talks. "If they don't want to do it, that's okay with me. I'll just charge them more."
When reporters repeated that Seoul had not agreed, Trump said, "Tell them if they don't sign shortly, I'm gonna double it up," according to The Hill.
Trump did not specify what he would double. Yonhap said it could mean higher tariffs or a demand for a larger investment, in a report carried by Financial News (파이낸셜뉴스). Under last year's deal, South Korea pledged $350 billion in US investment, and the US lowered its tariff on Korean goods from 25% to 15%.
Seoul has agreed only to a Texas power plant
The joint fact sheet the two governments released names a gas-fired power plant in Encinal, Texas, as the first project. Eight large nuclear reactors and Alaska LNG are listed for more talks. Korea's industry ministry has said the Alaska project will be reviewed for whether it makes business sense and follows Korean law, and that neither the decision to invest nor the amount is set.
That is the same position Seoul took after Trump's Alaska announcement and his plan for eight US nuclear reactors on Sept. 30.
The Alaska project would send gas through a pipeline of more than 800 miles from the North Slope to a plant in Nikiski. Reuters said it would cost more than twice as much as a similar plant on the US Gulf Coast.
Korea says the $8.4 billion oil project is not in the agreement
Earlier the same day, Trump wrote on Truth Social that the Korea deal "keeps getting BETTER!" and includes "8.4 Billion Dollars for an enhanced Oil Recovery Project." Enhanced oil recovery pushes carbon dioxide or other gases into an old oil field to bring up oil that is left underground. He did not say where the project is or who is in it.
Seoul says this was never agreed. "What the two countries agreed on strategic investment is only what is written in the joint fact sheet and press release," an industry ministry official said, according to Yonhap, as Tax Finance News (조세금융신문) reported. The official said Seoul has asked the US side about the announcement through trade channels.
The Alaska announcement comes ahead of the midterms
Korean media also point to the US midterm elections next month. Yonhap said many saw the Alaska announcement as help for a Republican senator in a close race in Alaska, where Senator Dan Sullivan is running for reelection. Of Korea's $350 billion promise, almost none had been spent as of last month.
The industry ministry official's comment is translated from Korean.
