South Korea Says US Investment Deal Announcement Delayed, Parliamentary Briefing Set for September 22

South Korea's Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said on Thursday that an announcement regarding Seoul's investment plans under its trade agreement with Washington had been postponed while procedural matters were being resolved. Cho, speaking at the airport before departing for the United States, did not provide further details.

Cho is scheduled to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio for talks on Friday.

The South Korean government this week deferred a planned briefing on its investment plans to a parliamentary committee, tentatively rescheduling it for September 22, according to an official familiar with the matter and media reports. Lawmakers have characterised the parliamentary briefing as one of the final steps before the two countries set terms for the large-scale South Korean investment pledge.

The delay comes as the allies continue negotiations over the details of a trade deal struck last year. Under that agreement, Seoul committed to investing $350 billion in US manufacturing in exchange for a reduction of tariffs on Korean imports to 15%. Implementation has faced delays, prompting US President Donald Trump to threaten South Korea with higher tariffs earlier this year.

Officials in Seoul said that with negotiations still ongoing, dates for both the parliamentary briefing and a final announcement have yet to be fixed.

South Korean media reported on Wednesday, citing a parliamentary official, that the two sides would likely hold a memorandum of understanding signing ceremony on September 23.

Of the promised $350 billion, $150 billion has been earmarked for shipbuilding, with both governments working to finalise terms for projects under consideration for the remaining $200 billion.

One proposal under discussion is South Korea potentially taking a minority stake in Westinghouse, the US nuclear reactor technology firm, several South Korean media outlets reported this week. According to those reports, Seoul is seeking the stake through its broader US 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 centres, the reports said. Seoul has also been considering participating in a liquefied natural gas project in Alaska.