Lee sets conditions for Alaska LNG project, rebuffing Trump's investment claim

President Lee Jae Myung on Thursday rebuffed Donald Trump's claim that the Alaska LNG project was included in South Korea's investment pledge to the United States, saying any involvement would be conditional on confirming the project's commercial viability.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Lee said the Alaska LNG project "will begin 'working' on the premise that its commercial viability is confirmed and that it complies with the legal procedures of the Republic of Korea."

Earlier, Trump had announced the Alaska LNG project as one of South Korea's US investment commitments, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick citing an investment figure of more than $50 billion.

The South Korean government, however, has maintained that no final investment decision has been made on the Alaska LNG project.

Lee's statement was a clear signal that he intends to apply the same standard of "commercial rationality" he has consistently emphasized throughout investment negotiations with Washington to the Alaska LNG project as well.

The term "working" that Lee used was interpreted not as a commitment to invest or participate in the project, but as the start of a working-level review and consultations to determine whether the project meets commercial and domestic legal requirements.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Thursday that "nothing has been decided regarding whether to invest or the scale of investment" in the Alaska LNG project, adding that South Korea was only "beginning a review."

Lee also stressed that nuclear power plants must have their commercial viability guaranteed on a plant-by-plant basis.

On profit sharing, he said that "in order to minimize investment losses and guarantee the repayment of principal and interest, all investment projects will maintain a 50-50 profit split — even for projects whose principal and interest have already been repaid — until the principal and interest of all investment projects have been recovered."