Earlier this year, Trump said he had secured 'unprecedented' funding from Seoul and Tokyo

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US President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office at the White House on Wednesday (local time). [EPA]
US President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office at the White House on Wednesday (local time). [EPA]

US President Donald Trump has once again brought up South Korea and Japan in connection with the Alaska liquefied natural gas project.

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Wednesday (local time), Trump said, "You have Japan and you have South Korea. All these people are going to Alaska to load up fuel, to load up oil, to build pipelines and do everything else."

The remarks came as Trump announced he would travel to Alaska to campaign for Dan Sullivan, the Republican candidate seeking a third Senate term.

Sullivan advanced through a recent primary alongside Democratic candidate Mary Peltola. The two are set to face off in a ranked-choice voting runoff, which US media outlets expect to be a close race.

"Dan Sullivan is a great senator," Trump said, adding, "Nobody has done more for Alaska than Donald Trump. We've invested billions of dollars and created trillions of dollars in value." He then pivoted abruptly to mention South Korea and Japan heading to Alaska.

Trump's comments appeared to refer to the Alaska pipeline project to export natural gas to Asia, which he announced Jan. 20 alongside trade agreements with South Korea and Japan.

At the time, Trump said that in concluding trade deals with South Korea and Japan, "we secured an unprecedented level of funding."

The remark referred to both countries' commitments under their respective trade agreements with the United States — which reduced mutual tariffs from 25 percent to 15 percent — with South Korea pledging $350 billion in US investment and Japan pledging $550 billion.

The Alaska LNG project is one of the Trump administration's flagship policy priorities, and the administration has repeatedly raised the possibility of channeling South Korean and Japanese investment funds into it.

The project involves extracting natural gas from Alaska's North Slope, transporting it roughly 1,300 kilometers via a newly built pipeline to the ice-free port of Nikiski near Anchorage, liquefying it there, and then supplying it to markets.


mokiya@heraldcorp.com