South Korea to announce over $100 billion in US energy investments to support AI development and fulfill trade agreement commitments

(1) The South Korean government is about to announce a major energy investment project in the United States to support American artificial intelligence development, marking a long-awaited step forward from last year’s US-Korea trade agreement. According to informed sources, the deal is potentially worth over $100 billion, with plans for South Korea to fund the construction of up to eight nuclear power plants and a natural gas project. (2) Last October, Trump and Lee Jae-myung reached an agreement: the US would reduce most tariffs from 25% to 15%, including those on the Korean automotive industry; in exchange, South Korea committed to investing $350 billion in the US and to purchase an additional $100 billion worth of American energy. (3) Previously, no projects had yet materialized, drawing dissatisfaction from US officials, including Trump himself, who in January threatened to raise tariffs against Korea again. Currently, both sides are close to finalizing two agreements that could be announced as soon as next week, although negotiations are ongoing and the investment details and announcement schedule may still change.