Seoul Delays First Project Under $350 Billion US Investment Plan

South Korea has delayed the first project under its $350 billion strategic investment commitment to the United States as the two governments continue negotiating key financial terms, President Lee Jae Myung said Friday.

Lee said working-level talks had brought the sides close to an agreement, but unresolved details made it impossible to proceed with the planned announcement. Seoul had intended to review the first project through bilateral management and operating committees before briefing the National Assembly and releasing the details publicly. The parliamentary briefing was moved from Thursday to Tuesday, while the announcement itself was put on hold.

The dispute centers on what Seoul describes as commercial reasonableness. Lee said the remaining questions include how South Korea would recover its investment, how returns would be divided and how losses would be handled. The package involves public funds, making the allocation of risk and profit a central issue for the government.

The two countries are also discussing the structure of an umbrella investment special-purpose vehicle that would oversee projects within the broader commitment. Lee said the commercial-reasonableness provision was included in the memorandum governing the package after difficult negotiations with Washington. South Korean law also requires projects to undergo an assessment of their commercial merits.

Lee emphasized that Seoul would approve only projects that protect the national interest and provide a defensible financial structure. He said South Korea had already made compromises after considering US tariffs, the wider bilateral relationship and investment agreements reached by other economies, but added that pressure should not override an assessment of risks and returns. He clarified that he was not accusing Washington of applying coercion.

No timetable was given for completing the talks or unveiling the first project. The delay shows that the two sides have moved beyond the headline investment figure to the more difficult task of deciding how individual projects will be financed and governed.

Lee also addressed reported US interest in additional American memory-chip production by Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. He said that issue remained under discussion and would have to balance the companies’ business judgments with South Korea’s industrial strategy. Such semiconductor plants would be direct corporate investments rather than projects financed through the $350 billion package.

Any further expansion in the United States could affect how the chipmakers allocate capital, skilled workers and equipment between overseas facilities and domestic plans, including a proposed semiconductor hub in the Honam region. Lee said the government would respect the companies’ views while seeking an outcome consistent with South Korea’s economic interests.