Foreign Ministry says Trump's Alaska LNG announcement reflects 'US position'

South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Thursday it understands President Donald Trump's announcement that South Korea would invest in the Alaska liquefied natural gas development project as "an emphasis of the US position."

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Park Du-sun made the remarks at a regular briefing at Government Complex Seoul. He said the Alaska project "means that, under the MOU between the two countries, a review will begin on the premise of commercial viability and relevant domestic legal procedures," adding that "no decision has been made on whether to invest or on the scale of any investment."

Park said "the investment plan is something the two countries discussed over a long period before announcing it, and matters requiring further discussion on individual projects will continue to be consulted going forward." He also said he hopes "security consultations and various pending issues between South Korea and the United States will advance through close communication, built on the shared understanding of the two countries' leaders."

In a joint fact sheet released after a summit last November, the two countries spelled out areas of cooperation including tariff reductions, strategic investment in the United States, shipbuilding cooperation, the acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines, and consultations on uranium enrichment and reprocessing for nuclear fuel.

As investment negotiations with the United States stretched on for more than 10 months, security consultations also went quiet after a first meeting last June, affecting the overall state of the bilateral relationship.

Trump on Thursday announced not only the construction of a gas-fired combined-cycle power plant in Encinal, Texas — a project the two sides had agreed upon — but also South Korea's construction of nuclear power plants in the United States and the Alaska LNG project, which had been set aside for further review.

Government officials have indicated that the Alaska LNG project, assessed as having limited commercial viability, requires additional consultations and will be reviewed within the bounds of commercial rationality and acceptable domestic legal procedures — the same conditions South Korea has maintained throughout the negotiations.