Trump’s $200bn Korea energy plan includes projects still awaiting decisions

Trump forecast tens of thousands of American jobs. [1] The Texas developers estimate 8,400 jobs at peak construction; Alaska LNG developer Glenfarne forecast 12,000 construction jobs in June for that project as a whole, before Seoul’s current participation review. [4] [5] [7] South Korea’s rules cap funding under the agreement at $20bn a year and generally require projects to be commercially viable. [2] [3]

Update

The US and South Korea have selected a $22.3bn gas-fired power project in Texas as their first strategic investment project. Two larger proposals in the $200bn energy package promoted by Donald Trump are less advanced: the nuclear framework is non-binding, and South Korea has yet to decide whether or how much to invest in Alaska LNG. [11] [14] [16]

In a Truth Social message posted on 30 September 2026 and reposted later that evening, Trump said the countries had agreed to launch $200bn of investments under a $350bn trade and investment deal reached the previous year. He listed a $120bn programme for eight nuclear reactors, a $50bn Alaska LNG project and a roughly $22bn power project in Texas, and forecast tens of thousands of American jobs. His wording on Alaska was narrower: the countries had agreed to begin working together. [10] [1]

The $200bn is the strategic-investment portion of the existing $350bn package, which also includes $150bn for shipbuilding. Under the terms published in 2025, South Korea cannot be required to provide more than $20bn in any year. Its industry ministry describes the latest projects as steps towards putting that earlier agreement into effect, rather than another $200bn on top of it. [11] [2]

The Texas project, known as Project Star, is planned to generate 6,472 megawatts, chiefly for an adjacent data-centre campus; its developers say excess electricity would go to the grid. South Korea’s industry ministry targets initial operation in 2029 and full operation in 2032. The developers estimate 8,400 jobs at peak construction and about 170 permanent jobs at the power campus, with hundreds more at the data centre. [11] [13]

For nuclear power, Cameco describes a framework for up to eight reactors, including six Westinghouse AP1000 units and up to two Korean APR1400 units. Sites, financing, approvals and final agreements remain to be settled. South Korea says $20bn of the proposed $120bn nuclear funding is a contingency that would count towards the strategic-investment total even if it went unused. [11] [14]