Donald Trump to announce $350 billion South Korean investment details on Friday

South Korean lawmaker Yoon Hu-duk told parliament on Monday that President Donald Trump will reveal the specifics of Seoul’s planned investments in the United States on Friday, September 18. The disclosure would mark the first concrete project details under a $350 billion investment package that South Korea pledged as part of a bilateral trade agreement struck in July 2025.

The announcement comes as both sides race to finalize initial projects worth more than $100 billion, with Trump reportedly pushing for faster timelines ahead of US midterm elections.

What’s in the package

The $350 billion commitment is split into two buckets. Roughly $200 billion is earmarked for strategic sectors, capped at $20 billion per year. The remaining $150 billion is designated for shipbuilding projects.

In exchange, US tariffs on South Korean goods drop from 25% to 15%.

The projects Trump is expected to detail on Friday span the energy spectrum. They include a major gas project in Texas, construction of eight nuclear reactors, an Alaskan liquefied natural gas initiative, reprocessing of approximately 4,000 tons of nuclear material, and new carbon capture technology development.

The institutional plumbing

South Korea’s National Assembly passed a special law in March 2026, by an overwhelming 226-8 vote, establishing the Korea-US Strategic Investment Corporation to manage and oversee the capital flows.

Lee Hyoung-il, South Korea’s finance minister nominee, acknowledged that discussions were ongoing but declined to comment on specifics during the parliamentary session.

Bilateral talks held between September 10 and 13 reportedly brought both sides close to completing substantial agreements on the first wave of projects. Those initial deals, potentially exceeding $100 billion in value, would focus primarily on nuclear energy and natural gas investments.

Why it matters beyond the bilateral relationship

With more than $100 billion of the initial projects potentially directed toward supporting US artificial intelligence capabilities, the deal positions South Korean firms as key suppliers and partners in America’s AI buildout. Korean companies like Samsung and SK Hynix already dominate global memory chip production.

Eight new reactors would represent a meaningful expansion of US nuclear capacity. Korean firms have deep expertise in nuclear construction, having built reactors domestically and in the United Arab Emirates.

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