Trump to unveil South Korea investment details Friday, lawmaker says

A South Korean lawmaker said on Tuesday that U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to announce details of South Korea's planned investment in the United States on Friday, a claim that Seoul's finance minister nominee declined to confirm during a parliamentary hearing.

Yoon Hu-duk, a lawmaker from the ruling Democratic Party, made the assertion while questioning Lee Hyoung-il, the nominee for finance minister, about the projects under discussion as part of Seoul's proposed $350 billion U.S. investment commitment.

"Trump is due to announce South Korea's investment in the U.S. on the 18th," Yoon said during the hours-long hearing.

Lee responded that the matter remained under consultation and that he would comment once discussions had concluded. Asked about the scale of the various projects, he said the government intended to stay within its agreed $200 billion investment ceiling and was negotiating accordingly.

Yoon said projects already reported in the media included a gas project in Texas, the construction of eight nuclear reactors and an Alaskan liquefied natural gas scheme. A fourth project appeared to involve the U.S. seeking the reprocessing of roughly 4,000 tons of nuclear material, and a fifth concerned carbon capture, he said. Lee replied that he could not disclose details of bilateral talks.

Yoon did not say how he had obtained the information. South Korea has not confirmed any details about the negotiations, though a source with direct knowledge said the industry ministry briefed ruling-party lawmakers last week. Local media have also reported the scope of some projects.

Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said on Sunday that the two sides were close to an agreement on many issues but cautioned that several matters remained unresolved.

Asked about Yoon's comments, the lawmaker's office said the government had not confirmed the details he raised, so it could not verify them. South Korea's Industry Ministry declined to comment, while the U.S. embassy in Seoul and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung reached a trade deal last October under which South Korea committed $350 billion of investments to U.S. manufacturing in return for Washington capping tariffs on Korean imports at 15%. Of that, $150 billion was earmarked for shipbuilding.

Implementation of the trade deal has since seen delays, prompting Trump to threaten South Korea with higher tariffs earlier this year.

During the same hearing, opposition party lawmaker Bae June-young said parliamentary committees were expected to be briefed on Thursday about the planned U.S. investments.