US pressing Seoul to expand investment beyond promised $350 billion: lawmaker

Published Sep 8, 2026 8:08 pm KST

Park Jung-sung, center, newly appointed trade minister of Korea, presides over a meeting at the administrative complex in Sejong, Aug. 26. Yonhap

Washington is pressuring South Korea to commit more than the $350 billion it initially agreed to invest in the United States as part of their bilateral tariff deal, a lawmaker said Tuesday, citing a report from the trade ministry.

Seoul made the $350 billion investment pledge in late 2025, in exchange for the U.S. lowering its reciprocal tariffs on South Korea. The investment package consists of a $200 billion investment in strategic industries and another $150 billion in the U.S. shipbuilding industry.

At the latest round of negotiations held on the $200 billion investment package, the U.S. focused on three major energy infrastructure projects — a large natural gas plant in Texas, a nuclear reactor program and the development of a natural gas pipeline in Alaska, according to the lawmaker.

"Negotiators are making last-minute adjustments on whether to invest in only two out of the three major projects, or to adjust the investment amount for each of the three projects," the lawmaker said, noting the sum of investments demanded by the U.S. for all three projects would exceed $200 billion.

The government is reportedly seeking to finalize its talks with the U.S. and hold a closed-door briefing at the National Assembly next Thursday before signing an agreement with the U.S. as early as next Friday.

发布于2026年9月8日晚上8:08（韩国标准时间）

8月26日，韩国新任贸易部长朴正成（图中）在世宗市行政大楼主持召开会议。（韩联社）

一位议员周二援引贸易部的一份报告称，华盛顿正在向韩国施压，要求其承诺的投资额超过最初根据双边关税协议同意在美国投资的3500亿美元。

首尔方面承诺在2025年底前投资3500亿美元，以换取美国降低对韩国的对等关税。该投资计划包括向战略产业投资2000亿美元，以及向美国造船业投资1500亿美元。

据这位议员称，在最近一轮关于 2000 亿美元投资方案的谈判中，美国重点关注了三个主要的能源基础设施项目——德克萨斯州的一座大型天然气工厂、一个核反应堆项目以及阿拉斯加天然气管道的开发。

这位议员表示：“谈判人员正在做最后的调整，决定是只投资三个主要项目中的两个，还是调整每个项目的投资额。”他还指出，美国要求的三个项目投资总额将超过 2000 亿美元。

据报道，政府正寻求完成与美国的谈判，并于下周四在国民议会举行闭门简报会，然后最早于下周五与美国签署协议。