The U.S. and Korea Should Be Bold in Their Investments
South Korea selected an LNG power plant in Texas as the initial project under its investment agreement with the United States, focusing on commercial viability. The Trump administration has since announced additional energy projects, including eight nuclear power plants and an LNG pipeline in Alaska, and an $8.4 billion oil recovery project that Seoul contends was not under consideration. The text argues Seoul and Washington should consider using some funds for projects that improve national security and supply chain security, and it discusses risks in the Texas project and in powering AI data centers.
Why it matters: The dispute over additional energy commitments matters for supply chain security because the text links China's control of critical minerals and willingness to exploit vulnerabilities to economic coercion.