Seoul – South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said on Thursday that an announcement on Seoul’s U.S. investment plans under its trade deal with Washington had been delayed while procedural issues were clarified, without elaborating. Cho made the remarks at the airport before departing to the United States, where he is due to meet U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio for talks on Friday.
South Korea’s government this week postponed a planned briefing on its investment plans to a parliamentary committee and tentatively rescheduled it for Sept. 22, according to an official with knowledge of the matter and media reports. Lawmakers have described the parliamentary briefing as one of the final steps before Seoul and Washington set terms for a huge South Korean investment pledge in the United States. The postponement of Thursday’s briefing comes as the allies continue negotiations over details of a trade deal struck last year, under which Seoul committed to invest $350 billion in U.S. manufacturing in return for lowering tariffs on Korean imports to 15%.
With negotiations still ongoing, dates for a parliamentary briefing and a final announcement have yet to be fixed, two officials in Seoul said. South Korean news outlet Newsis reported on Wednesday, citing a Korean parliamentary official, that the allies would likely hold a memorandum of understanding signing ceremony on Sept. 23. Implementation of the trade deal has seen delays, prompting U.S.
President Donald Trump to threaten South Korea with higher tariffs earlier this year. Of Seoul’s promised $350 billion investment, $150 billion of the package has been earmarked for shipbuilding, with both governments working to finalize terms of projects under consideration for the remaining $200 billion. One proposal under discussion is South Korea potentially taking a stake in Westinghouse, the U.S. nuclear reactor technology firm, several South Korean media outlets, including the Korea Economic Daily and Chosun Ilbo, reported this week.
According to the reports, Seoul is seeking a minority stake in Westinghouse funded through its broader U.S. strategic investment fund as part of a package that envisages up to eight new nuclear reactors being built in the United States, including six using Westinghouse technology and two based on a South Korean model. Other projects include plans to build a 6.3-gigawatt gas power plant in Encinal, Texas, valued at about $22 billion to meet rising power demand for AI data centers, according to the media reports. Seoul has also been considering participating in a liquefied natural gas project in Alaska, the reports said.
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