SEOUL, Sept 15 (Reuters) – A South Korean lawmaker said on Tuesday, while questioning the country’s finance minister nominee, that U.S. President Donald Trump was due to announce details of Seoul’s planned investment in the United States on Friday.
Yoon Hu-duk, a lawmaker from the ruling Democratic Party (DP), made the assertion during the hours-long questioning of Lee Hyoung-il, in which he also asked about details of projects being discussed under 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,” said Yoon.
Lee replied that the matter was still under consultation and that he would comment once discussions had concluded.
Yoon also said during the hearing that 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 responded by saying 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, but a source with direct knowledge said the industry ministry briefed DP lawmakers last week. Local media have also reported the scope of some of the projects.
South Korean Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said on Sunday 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 that the government had not confirmed the details he had raised so the office could not verify them.
South Korea’s Industry Ministry declined to comment. 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.
Finance minister nominee Lee was also asked whether the scale of the various projects might exceed Seoul’s agreed $200 billion investment ceiling. He said that the government intended to keep within that limit and was negotiating accordingly.
An opposition party lawmaker, Bae June-young, said during the same hearing that parliament committees were expected to be briefed on Thursday about the planned U.S. investments.
(Reporting by Joyce LeeEditing by Ed Davies)
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