South Korea Picks Texas Gas Plant as First Project Under $350 Billion US Deal

South Korea has chosen a gas-fired power plant in Texas as the first project it intends to pursue under a $350 billion investment commitment to the United States, a lawmaker said after a closed-door parliamentary briefing on Tuesday.

Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan briefed members of the National Assembly's trade committee on the plan, outlining the Texas project alongside two other ventures under discussion. Lawmaker Chung Chin-ook, speaking to reporters after the meeting, identified the Texas plant as the first confirmed project.

The 6.3-gigawatt facility in Encinal carries a value of more than $20 billion and is intended to supply electricity to artificial intelligence data centres and chip factories, according to media reports and another lawmaker.

Seoul is also discussing investment in two South Korean-designed APR1400 nuclear reactors as part of a broader nuclear programme. Talks additionally cover the construction of as many as eight large reactors in the US, with two using the APR1400 model and six deploying Westinghouse's AP1000 design, a source briefed on the negotiations said.

South Korea is weighing a 5% to 10% stake in US nuclear technology firm Westinghouse, while no decision has been made on participating in the long-delayed Alaska liquefied natural gas project, Chung said.

A separate source said Seoul is seeking to cap annual investment at $20 billion to limit the effect on local currency markets.

The briefing marks a key step toward finalising implementation of a trade agreement reached in November last year, which lowered US tariffs on South Korean goods to 15%. Under the deal, Seoul pledged to invest in US manufacturing in exchange for the tariff relief. Of the $350 billion total, $150 billion has been earmarked for shipbuilding, while details of the remaining $200 billion in strategic investments are still being worked out.

US officials have criticised Seoul for moving slowly on implementation, particularly compared with countries such as Japan, and President Donald Trump threatened higher tariffs earlier this year over the pace. President Lee Jae Myung said on Friday that commercial viability had become a sticking point as negotiators shifted from a broad agreement to project-level details, citing questions over returns, profit-sharing and how losses from unprofitable projects would be handled.

Under the South Korean bill on US strategic investment, the government need only brief lawmakers on projects deemed commercially reasonable, rather than seek formal parliamentary consent. Opposition lawmakers have demanded closer scrutiny, warning that Seoul could face disproportionate financial risks in energy projects. Projects pursued for national security or supply chain reasons despite being commercially unfeasible would require parliamentary consent.

The briefing to the trade committee was postponed last week while negotiators sought to bridge differences between the two sides. Lee travelled to the United States this week for the UN General Assembly, where he is seeking meetings with Trump and other leaders.