Announcement of South Korea's U.S. investment plan delayed due to need to clarify related procedural issues

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said on Thursday that the announcement of South Korea's U.S. investment plan under the South Korea-U.S. trade agreement has been delayed due to the need to clarify related procedural issues, but he did not disclose further specific details. Cho made the remarks at the airport before departing for the United States, where he is scheduled to hold talks with U.S. Secretary of State Marco·Rubio on Friday.

According to officials familiar with the matter and media reports, the South Korean government this week postponed the briefing on the investment plan originally scheduled to be submitted to a congressional committee, and tentatively rescheduled it to September 22. South Korean lawmakers said that a dedicated briefing to the National Assembly is one of the core steps before the two countries finalize the details of South Korea's massive investment commitment to the United States.

The postponement of Thursday's briefing comes as South Korea and the United States remain engaged in in-depth negotiations over the details of the trade agreement reached last year. Under the agreement, Seoul pledged to invest $350 billion in U.S. manufacturing in exchange for the United States lowering tariffs on South Korean imports to 15%.

Two South Korean officials said that because negotiations between the two sides are still ongoing, neither the specific date for the congressional briefing nor the timing of the final investment announcement has been fully determined. Separately, according to South Korean media reports, a congressional official said the two sides may hold a signing ceremony for a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on September 23.

Due to delays in the implementation of the trade agreement, U.S. President Donald·Trump had previously warned that he would impose higher tariffs on South Korea. Of the $350 billion in total investment pledged by Seoul, $150 billion has been specifically allocated for the shipbuilding industry, and the two governments are currently in close consultations over the final terms of the remaining $200 billion in proposed investment projects.

Multiple South Korean media outlets, including the Korea Economic Daily and Chosun Ilbo, reported this week that one option currently under discussion is that South Korea may seek to acquire a minority stake in U.S. nuclear reactor technology company Westinghouse Electric. The reports noted that as part of a comprehensive plan covering the construction of as many as eight new nuclear reactors in the United States (including six using Westinghouse technology and two using South Korea's domestic model), Seoul plans to fund the minority stake acquisition through its broader strategic investment fund for the United States.

Media reports also showed that other potential cooperation projects include a plan to build a gas-fired power plant in Encinal, Texas, valued at about $22 billion with an installed capacity of 6.3 gigawatts, to meet the growing electricity demand of artificial intelligence data centers. In addition, Seoul is reportedly also considering participation in a liquefied natural gas (LNG) development project in Alaska.