PPP lawmaker criticizes Alaska LNG project, warns Seoul gave Washington a pretext

People Power Party lawmaker Kim Gun said Friday he has serious concerns about whether South Korea is conducting its trade negotiations with the United States properly.

Appearing on MBC Radio's "Kim Jong-bae's Sisonjipjung" that day, Kim criticized the Alaska liquefied natural gas project announced by US President Donald Trump, saying it was included in a joint press statement even though "nothing has been decided."

"We agreed to it and made a joint announcement," he added, "and that gave the United States a pretext to treat it as a done deal."

Kim reacted to comments by Trade Minister Kim Jung-kwan, who had suggested the project had gone "too far," saying: "There may well be aspects that went too far, but what our government is saying is that it is conditional."

He said the two conditions are commercial viability under the strategic investment MOU and the fulfillment of relevant domestic legal requirements. "If you look at the strategic investment MOU, the party that determines commercial viability is Secretary Lutnick," he said.

Kim went on to say that the determination would not be made objectively, but rather that "if the investment committee, which Lutnick heads, believes there is commercial viability, that is how it will be decided" — a prospect he said concerned him.

Kim said South Korea must use this opportunity to secure tangible gains for its national interest. Responding to a statement the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued Thursday — expressing hope that Trump's announcement of the US investment project would help advance other pending issues, including security consultations between the two allies — Kim said: "If we made a concession, we naturally have to get something in return. If we fail to do that properly, we will face public condemnation."

He was less optimistic about the timeline, however. "This is something that will take a lot of time," Kim said, adding that he sometimes wonders whether any progress is even possible within the Trump administration given that consultations are not moving forward.

"We need to move quickly and get done what needs to get done with the Trump administration," he said.

Kim also weighed in on President Lee Jae Myung's Armed Forces Day address Thursday, criticizing Lee for describing the DMZ land mine explosion as an "unforeseen accident."

"This was a clear armistice violation in which North Korean troops deliberately planted mines on the southern side of the Military Demarcation Line," Kim said. "The Joint Chiefs of Staff said so, and the UN Command announced the same. I question whether it was appropriate for the president, as commander in chief, to call it an unforeseen accident on Armed Forces Day."