Korea's Lee: $2.4bn sent for Texas power plant, $10bn nuclear payment pending
In short
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lee Hyung-il told a National Assembly audit on October 6 that $2.4bn was sent to the United States on October 1 for a gas-fired power plant serving AI data centers in Texas, the first Korea-US strategic investment project. He said a $10bn advance payment for the Korea-US nuclear project will be made only after commercial rationality is verified and domestic legal procedures, including parliamentary steps, are completed. On Seoul's housing market, Lee said apartment prices had risen for 86 consecutive weeks but that the pace is easing.
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Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lee Hyung-il told a National Assembly audit on October 6 that $2.4bn of Korea's first strategic investment project in the United States was remitted on October 1, Kyunghyang Shinmun and Asia Economy reported. The money goes to a gas combined-cycle power plant for AI data centers in Encinal, Texas, with a capacity of 6.472 gigawatts, part of a project Kyunghyang put at $22.3bn in total and about 10% of its cost. Korea and the United States confirmed the project, called Project Star, in a joint fact sheet on October 1, Kyunghyang reported. [ 2 , 3 ]
Lee said the $10bn advance payment planned for the Korea-US nuclear project would be sent only after commercial rationality is fully verified and domestic legal procedures, including National Assembly proceedings, are completed, the two outlets reported. Newsis reported in its headline that the funds would be remitted within the year after domestic legal procedures are completed. Asia Economy reported that the two countries agreed a framework for building eight large nuclear plants in the United States, called Project Power, with an advance payment of up to $10bn under discussion for the end of the year, and that some opposition lawmakers criticised the government for including it in the joint fact sheet without enough parliamentary discussion. Kyunghyang reported that Project Power is being discussed at a total project cost of $120bn, with the timing and size of fund recovery not yet fixed. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
On the Alaska LNG project, which Asia Economy put at $50bn-$55bn, Lee said no decision has been made on whether to invest or on its size, and that commercial rationality and the possibility of recovering the funds would be weighed before a final judgment, according to both outlets. [ 2 , 3 ]
Answering a lawmaker's question about Seoul apartment prices, which he said had risen for 86 consecutive weeks in the longest such streak, Lee said he takes the rise seriously but that the pace has eased recently, with Gangnam declining while outlying and mid- and low-priced areas led gains. He said permits and construction starts in Seoul rose 40% in January-August from a year earlier, a leading indicator of more supply to come, Kyunghyang reported. [ 2 ]
On the introduction of single-stock leveraged ETFs, Lee told the audit he regretted that individual investors' losses had not been addressed in advance, and said he attended a January 13 meeting chaired by former presidential policy chief Kim Yong-beom but could not comment in detail because it was organised by the presidential office, Asia Economy reported. Opposition lawmakers said the product caused about 54 trillion won in losses for individual investors. [ 3 ]
Why it matters
The timing of the $10bn nuclear advance payment is tied to commercial review and domestic legal procedures, which opposition lawmakers say were not sufficiently discussed with the National Assembly, making the sequencing of Korea's US investment commitments a continuing political issue. The $2.4bn already sent marks the start of the strategic investment projects Korea agreed with Washington. Lee's remarks on 86 weeks of rising Seoul apartment prices and on leveraged ETF losses keep housing and retail investor risk on the policy agenda.
Key facts
- Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lee Hyung-il said on October 6 that $2.4bn was remitted to the United States on October 1 for the first Korea-US strategic investment project, a Texas gas-fired power plant for AI data centers. [ 2 , 3 ]
- Lee said the $10bn advance payment for the Korea-US nuclear project will be executed only after commercial rationality is verified and domestic legal procedures are completed. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Korea and the United States confirmed the Texas project, called Project Star, in an October 1 joint fact sheet; Kyunghyang reported the plant's capacity as 6.472GW and the project's total cost as $22.3bn. [ 2 ]
- Asia Economy reported the two countries agreed a framework for eight large nuclear plants in the United States under Project Power, with an advance payment of up to $10bn under discussion for the end of the year. [ 3 ]
- Lee said the Alaska LNG project, which Asia Economy sized at $50bn-$55bn, is still under review with no decision on whether to invest or on its scale. [ 2 , 3 ]
- Lee said Seoul apartment prices had risen for 86 consecutive weeks and that permits and construction starts in the city rose 40% year-on-year in January-August. [ 2 ]
- Opposition lawmakers criticised the government for including the nuclear advance payment in the joint fact sheet without sufficient National Assembly discussion, and said single-stock leveraged ETFs caused about 54 trillion won in losses for individual investors. [ 3 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- $2.4bn was remitted to the United States on October 1 for the first Korea-US strategic investment project, a gas-fired power plant in Texas, according to the deputy prime minister's audit testimony. [ 2 , 3 ]
- Lee said the $10bn advance payment for the Korea-US nuclear project will be made only after commercial rationality is verified and domestic legal procedures are completed. [ 2 , 3 ]
- Lee said the Alaska LNG project remains under review, with no decision made on investment or scale. [ 2 , 3 ]
Still unclear
- Whether the Project Power nuclear framework and the up-to-$10bn advance payment were agreed without sufficient National Assembly procedures. This is opposition criticism reported by a single outlet, and the documents do not give a government response to the procedural complaint.
- The total cost of the Project Power nuclear project. Kyunghyang says $120bn is under discussion while Asia Economy gives no figure, and both say detailed conditions including the timing and size of fund recovery are not finalised.
- The scale of individual investor losses from single-stock leveraged ETFs. The figure of about 54 trillion won is an opposition claim reported by one outlet and is not confirmed by the government in the documents.
- Full details of the audit exchange carried in the Newsis report. The article text under the Newsis headline concerns the Supreme Court chief justice's remarks on judicial appointments, not the US investment issue, so only its headline could be used.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Newsis headlines Lee's remark that the $10bn in US investment funds will be remitted within the year after domestic legal procedures are completed. [ 1 ]
- Kyunghyang Shinmun reports the audit remarks, including the $2.4bn October 1 remittance, the conditions on the nuclear payment and Lee's comments on Seoul apartment prices. [ 2 ]
- Asia Economy reports the audit, including the nuclear advance payment conditions, the Project Power framework and the exchange on single-stock leveraged ETFs. [ 3 ]