Trump unveils South Korea's $200 billion US investment plan, including 8 nuclear plants
Bloomberg News reports the package also includes about $54 billion for the long-delayed Alaska LNG project, alongside nuclear and gas plants that had stalled over financing.
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UpdateWednesday, September 30, 2026 at 9:55 AM ET
The $200 billion figure is now reported as a $350 billion package, with $120 billion earmarked for the reactors; the announcement is described as scheduled, not yet made.
President Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick are due to formally announce the plan at 3:30pm Eastern in the Oval Office, according to the Asia Business Daily. The outlet reports South Korea is weighing up to $120 billion for the eight reactors as part of a broader $350 billion US investment package, with exact amounts not yet finalized. Of the first four reactors, South Korea would build two and the United States two, the Korea JoongAng Daily reports. The Korea Herald, citing Reuters, reports a Texas gas-fired plant is the first project under the package, the reactors the second, and an Alaska LNG project, worth roughly $54 billion, the third.
President Trump announced South Korea's $200 billion investment package for the United States on Wednesday, including funding for eight nuclear power plants.
The package stems from an October 2025 trade deal in which South Korea pledged $350 billion in US investment in exchange for a tariff cut from 25% to 15%, with $200 billion set aside for strategic investments and $150 billion for shipbuilding, according to Reason. No tangible investment followed in the months after that announcement, leaving South Korea what the Wall Street Journal described, as reported by Reason, as in the doghouse with the Trump administration. In January, Trump threatened to reimpose the 25% tariff after South Korea's National Assembly failed to ratify the deal, prompting Seoul to set up a state-run corporation to manage the outflows, Reason reported. South Korea's finance minister said at the time that the investment was unlikely to begin in the first half of 2026, with an annual outflow cap of $20 billion, Reuters reported via MarketScreener.
Bloomberg News reported that the package unveiled Wednesday includes about $54 billion tied to the long-delayed Alaska LNG project, along with natural gas power and nuclear plants that had stalled over financing and negotiation. That inclusion differs from South Korea's own position, which had treated Alaska LNG as a matter for future discussion rather than part of the confirmed package, the Seoul Economic Daily reported. As of September 27, a South Korean Ministry of Trade official said there were no outstanding disagreements between the two countries and that Seoul was waiting only for Washington's formal announcement, with a first tranche of $2.2 billion expected once projects are confirmed, according to the Seoul Economic Daily.
That would make the plants the first project under the $200 billion package to move from rhetoric to a named, funded commitment, after months in which a Texas gas plant and a stake in Westinghouse stalled without resolution. It gives Seoul's investment pledge a concrete anchor to show domestically, at a time when talks with Washington on defense costs and support near the Strait of Hormuz have otherwise made no progress.