WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump formally announced Wednesday plans for South Korea to invest up to $200 billion in major U.S. energy and infrastructure projects, providing the first detailed group of projects under a broader investment agreement reached between Washington and Seoul last year.

Trump made the announcement from the Oval Office.

The package includes $54 billion connected to the long-planned Alaska liquefied natural gas project, construction of eight large-scale nuclear power plants and a major natural-gas-fired power facility in Texas.

The $200 billion represents the strategic-investment portion of a broader $350 billion South Korean investment package negotiated as part of the two countries' 2025 trade agreement.

Another $150 billion under that agreement is designated for shipbuilding-related investment.

The White House and South Korean government had outlined the $200 billion strategic-investment commitment previously, but Wednesday's announcement identified major projects expected to receive financing under the program.

The announcement should not be interpreted as meaning the entire $200 billion has already been spent or transferred.

Several projects remain subject to financing, commercial agreements, regulatory approvals and other implementation steps.

$54 billion for Alaska LNG

One of the largest components announced Wednesday is approximately $54 billion associated with the Alaska LNG project.

The project is designed to transport natural gas from Alaska's North Slope through the state to an export facility in southern Alaska.

The system would include an approximately 807-mile natural-gas pipeline running from the North Slope to a liquefaction facility near Nikiski.

According to Reuters, the project is designed to transport roughly 3.9 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day.

The LNG terminal would be capable of producing as much as 20 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas annually for export.

Asian countries including South Korea and Japan are viewed as key potential customers because Alaska is geographically closer to Northeast Asian markets than many Gulf Coast LNG facilities.

Trump has repeatedly promoted Alaska LNG as a way to expand American energy exports and strengthen energy relationships with U.S. allies in Asia.

Alaska LNG has faced questions for years

The Alaska project has been discussed for decades but has repeatedly struggled with its enormous construction cost, financing requirements and questions about commercial competitiveness.

Reuters estimates the project could cost between approximately $44.5 billion and $54.5 billion.

Glenfarne Group currently controls a 75% interest in the project, while the state-owned Alaska Gasline Development Corporation retains the remaining 25%.

Glenfarne said earlier this year that it had lined up preliminary commitments covering approximately 13 million metric tons of LNG annually.

The developer has said it needs approximately 3 million additional tons of annual commitments before financing can be secured and existing commitments can become binding.

Japan's JERA and Tokyo Gas have signed preliminary agreements covering a combined approximately 2 million metric tons of LNG annually if the project is constructed.

Those agreements are preliminary rather than final long-term purchase contracts.

South Korean financing could substantially change the project's funding outlook, but Seoul has repeatedly said investments made under the bilateral agreement must satisfy commercial-viability requirements.

Eight nuclear power plants

Trump also announced that the investment package would include construction of eight large-scale nuclear power plants in the United States.

The locations and final construction schedules for the reactors were not announced Wednesday.

South Korea and the United States had been discussing the nuclear component for weeks before Trump's announcement.

Reuters previously reported that proposals under consideration involved six reactors using Westinghouse's AP1000 technology and two reactors based on South Korea's APR1400 design.

A final reactor-by-reactor breakdown was not detailed in Trump's Wednesday announcement.

South Korean officials have also discussed a potential investment in Westinghouse as part of the broader nuclear cooperation between the two countries.

The nuclear projects are being considered at a time when electricity demand is increasing because of data-center construction, advanced manufacturing and broader electrification.

Building eight commercial reactors would represent a significant expansion of planned U.S. nuclear generation, although each project would still face licensing, financing, construction and regulatory requirements before entering service.

Texas gas plant would supply data centers and manufacturing

The package also includes a large natural-gas-fired power project in Encinal, Texas.

Trump described the project Wednesday as a 6-gigawatt power-generation facility.

South Korean officials previously described the planned facility as approximately 6.3 gigawatts, with an estimated investment of roughly $22.3 billion.

The plant is intended to supply electricity to energy-intensive customers including artificial-intelligence data centers and semiconductor manufacturing facilities.

South Korea formally selected the Texas project earlier this month as the first investment under the $200 billion strategic-investment program.

South Korean officials have said the project was selected after reviews of its expected commercial viability.

Earlier projections presented in South Korea estimated that the project could generate approximately $43 billion to $45 billion in revenue over 20 years, although those projections depend on construction costs, electricity contracts and future market conditions.

Long-term power purchase agreements with major electricity customers are expected to be important to the project's financing.

Part of 2025 U.S.-South Korea trade agreement

The $200 billion investment program traces back to the trade agreement reached between the United States and South Korea in 2025.

Under the agreement, South Korea committed to a broader $350 billion U.S. investment package.

The White House said at the time that $150 billion would be directed toward shipbuilding and another $200 billion would support strategic investments in areas including energy, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, critical minerals and advanced technology.

The agreement was negotiated alongside changes to U.S. tariffs on South Korean goods.

The White House said qualifying South Korean goods would generally face either the applicable U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement or most-favored-nation tariff rate, or a 15% tariff where that rate was higher.

Wednesday's announcement therefore represents implementation of an investment framework negotiated last year rather than a completely new $200 billion commitment.

Commercial viability remains an issue in South Korea

The scale and structure of the U.S. investment package have generated debate inside South Korea.

Some opposition lawmakers have questioned whether projects selected under the agreement will generate sufficient returns for South Korean taxpayers and investors.

Kim Sung-won, chairman of the South Korean parliament's trade committee, told Reuters before Wednesday's White House announcement that projects involving major public financial exposure should undergo careful commercial review.

South Korea's government has likewise maintained that projects must satisfy commercial standards before financing is finalized.

That condition is particularly important for Alaska LNG because of the project's history of delays, high estimated costs and need for long-term customer commitments.

The distinction means Wednesday's announcement establishes the administration's planned project portfolio, but individual projects may still require substantial negotiations before capital is fully committed.

Alaska pipeline is part of LNG project

The 807-mile natural-gas pipeline highlighted in the announcement is not a separate project from Alaska LNG.

It is a central component of the roughly $54 billion Alaska development.

The pipeline would move gas south from Alaska's North Slope to the planned liquefaction and export facility.

The project's scale reflects the geographic challenge of transporting North Slope gas across Alaska to an ice-free port capable of serving LNG tankers.

If completed, the system could create a new export route for Alaska's large natural-gas resources.

The current project timetable anticipates a final investment decision on portions of the development before construction proceeds, with LNG exports targeted for the early 2030s.

Those dates remain dependent on financing, construction and commercial agreements.

Energy demand driving investment

The Texas and nuclear components also reflect rapidly rising U.S. electricity demand.

Data centers used for artificial intelligence and cloud computing can require enormous amounts of continuous electricity.

Semiconductor fabrication plants and other advanced manufacturing facilities are similarly energy intensive.

Those demands have led utilities, technology companies and governments to pursue combinations of natural gas, nuclear power and other generation sources.

The announced South Korean investments would place both natural gas and nuclear generation at the center of the bilateral energy strategy.

What happens next

The next phase will involve turning Wednesday's announced plans into finalized project-level investments.

The Texas gas project is already the most advanced of the newly identified investments, having been formally selected by South Korean officials earlier this month.

The Alaska LNG project still needs additional binding commercial commitments and financing before full construction can proceed.

The eight proposed nuclear plants will require site selection, reactor agreements, federal licensing and substantial financing before construction.

South Korean officials have also emphasized that investments must remain commercially viable under the terms of the bilateral framework.

Trump's Wednesday announcement therefore marks a significant step in implementing the $200 billion strategic-investment agreement, while major financial and regulatory milestones remain before all of the announced projects become operating U.S. infrastructure.