South Korea rebuts $50bn Alaska LNG claim

President Trump on Wednesday said South Korea would invest $50 billion in the Alaska LNG pipeline, a pledge South Korean officials say mischaracterizes agreed terms.

Alaska LNG financing dispute

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters the South Korean package would include more than $50 billion for the Alaska project and about $120 billion for U.S. nuclear power as part of a broader trade framework, officials said. Sen. Dan Sullivan hailed the White House announcement as a multi-billion-dollar win for Alaska that would create more than 10,000 jobs, officials said.

Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan pushed back, saying the U.S. announcement "went far beyond what was agreed" and that Seoul had agreed to proceed with the Alaska project only on the premise that "commercial reasonableness is guaranteed," officials said. President Lee Jae Myung echoed that no blank check had been written, saying, "We agreed to begin working on the Alaska LNG project on the conditions that, first, its commercial viability is confirmed and, second, it complies with Korea's legal procedures."

South Korean officials also described investment guardrails inside the broader framework, citing a $20 billion annual investment ceiling and a $200 billion overall cap, officials said. The differing public versions leave the Alaska commitment conditional on commercial checks and further negotiation.

Officials said talks will continue this month; Seoul has made clear it will not finalize a project commitment until commercial viability and domestic legal steps are satisfied.