Seoul maintains it has yet to decide on investment after reviewing commercial viability; Trump also announces Japanese semiconductor investment and Taiwan LNG purchase commitment

US President Donald Trump dances at a campaign rally in Arizona on Wednesday (local time). [Reuters]
US President Donald Trump dances at a campaign rally in Arizona on Wednesday (local time). [Reuters]

US President Donald Trump has again claimed that South Korea agreed to invest $50 billion in the Alaska liquefied natural gas development project as part of a trade and investment deal between the two countries — even as Seoul maintains it has not yet decided whether to invest, pending a review of the project's commercial viability.

On Wednesday (local time), Trump announced on his Truth Social account that he had just unveiled the Alaska LNG Project in Alaska, calling it "the largest energy infrastructure project in Alaska's history." He added that South Korea's $50 billion infrastructure investment "is part of the trade and investment agreement I made with South Korea."

Trump had also referenced South Korea's potential participation in the Alaska LNG project at a midterm election campaign rally in Alaska on Wednesday (local time).

In a separate post, Trump said Taiwan had committed to purchasing between $70 billion and $80 billion worth of LNG from the Alaska project — equivalent to 30 percent of the pipeline's supply over the next 20 years. He described the commitment as "the largest purchase agreement in history."

In another Truth Social post, Trump said Japan would provide $21 billion to fund the construction of two semiconductor manufacturing facilities in Malta, New York.


mokiya@heraldcorp.com