By Heekyong Yang, Joyce Lee and Hyunjoo Jin
SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea touted a broad range of U.S. investment plans by its companies at Monday’s summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, spanning shipbuilding, nuclear energy, aerospace, energy and critical minerals.
While South Korean companies pledged at the summit $150 billion in U.S. investments, the countries also agreed to establish a non-binding agreement to steer $350 billion of investment funds proposed by Seoul in July as part of a trade deal to cut threatened U.S. tariffs on Korean goods.
Here are some of the investment plans announced as part of the summit.
$150 BILLION IN INVESTMENTS
South Korea’s business lobby group said companies would invest $150 billion in areas such as artificial intelligence, chips, biotechnology, shipbuilding and nuclear power. The group did not give a breakdown or timeframe for the investments.
The investments by South Korean companies, already among the leading investors in the United States, would be equivalent to about six times their U.S. foreign direct investment in 2024 if pushed through.
Presidential adviser Kim Yong-beom previously said the investments would include some previously announced projects such as Samsung Electronics’ new chip factory in Texas and Hyundai Motor’s car factory in Georgia, as well as Hanwha’s plan to expand its U.S. shipyard.
AEROSPACE
Korean Air, South Korea’s biggest carrier, announced the purchase of 103 Boeing aircraft worth $36.2 billion, alongside a $13.7 billion agreement with GE Aerospace for engines and maintenance services. The deal is the largest single contract in the airline’s history, and separate from an order it signalled in March for up to 50 Boeing jets and GE engines.
HYUNDAI MOTOR GROUP
Hyundai Motor Group announced it will boost its U.S. investment to $26 billion from a previously announced $21 billion between 2025 and 2028.
The plan includes building a new steel mill in Louisiana, expanding Hyundai Motor and Kia Corp’s U.S. auto production capacity, and establishing a robotics hub with an annual output of 30,000 units.
SHIPBUILDING
Trump said during the summit the U.S. would work with South Korea to revive the struggling U.S. shipbuilding industry, saying the U.S. would buy ships from South Korea but also get support to make ships in the country.
South Korea’s HD Hyundai, together with Korea Development Bank, signed a memorandum of understanding with U.S. investment firm Cerberus Capital to create a multibillion-dollar joint fund aimed at strengthening U.S. maritime capacity, including shipbuilding.
Samsung Heavy Industries and Vigor Marine Group also inked a preliminary deal covering maintenance and overhaul of U.S. Navy support ships, shipyard modernization and joint vessel construction.
LNG
State-run Korea Gas Corp reached long-term agreements with commodity trader Trafigura among others to import 3.3 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas annually for about 10 years starting in 2028, mainly sourced from the United States. The long-term contracted LNG volumes are set to be supplied by Cheniere, the largest U.S. LNG exporter, among others.
NUCLEAR ENERGY
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power and Doosan Enerbility joined with U.S. partners X-energy and Amazon Web Services to cooperate on small modular reactor design, construction and supply chains.
Doosan Enerbility also struck an agreement with Fermi America to supply nuclear and SMR equipment for a Texas-based AI project, while KHNP and Samsung C&T signed a separate MOU with Fermi on the project’s construction. In addition, KHNP agreed with Centrus a joint investment in a U.S. uranium enrichment facility.
CRITICAL MINERALS
Korea Zinc agreed with Lockheed Martin to supply germanium from 2028 under a long-term deal and to deepen supply chain cooperation in rare metals.
NON-BINDING DEAL ON $350 BILLION FUND
South Korea last month agreed on a trade deal to cut tariffs in exchange for pledging to make separate $350 billion investments, with the two sides deferring over details about the fund.
Kim said on Monday that South Korea plans to pursue a “non-binding” deal on the structure and operation of the fund. The “financial package” would be used to support strategic industries such as key minerals, batteries, chips, pharmaceutical products, AI and quantum computing, he said.
(Reporting by Joyce Lee, Heekyong Yang and Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Lincoln Feast.Editing by Ed Davies)
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