As Japan Confirms Its First Investment Project in the U.S., Korea Races to Keep Pace

[Financial News]
As Japan has finalized its first investment project in the United States, pressure from Washington for similar investments is expected to intensify. In this context, a Korean delegation has departed for the United States to discuss potential investment projects.
According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on the 19th, a working-level negotiation team led by Deputy Minister for Trade Park Jeong-seong left for the United States the previous day. Park and other officials are expected to meet with officials from the U.S. Department of Commerce to focus on candidate projects for investment in the United States, their commercial viability, and implementation procedures.
This visit by the working-level team is seen as groundwork to enable swift implementation of investments in the United States once the Special Act on Investment in the United States, expected to pass the National Assembly in early March, is approved. The aim is to move quickly to flesh out specific investment projects as soon as the bill is passed.
The government has shifted into high gear after U.S. President Donald Trump recently warned of reimposing higher tariffs, citing delays in passing the Special Act on Investment in the United States. The National Assembly has formed a Special Committee this month and begun fast-track procedures, while the government has also moved early to set up an implementation committee ahead of the bill’s passage.
Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Kim Jeong-gwan is also said to be in frequent contact with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick through videoconferences to exchange views.
As these working-level talks get fully underway, some observers predict that the first investment project could be confirmed sooner than expected. In practice, projects in power generation and energy, as well as in critical minerals, are currently being discussed as leading candidates for the initial deal.
Japan, for its part, has announced three initial investment projects in the United States: a large-scale 9.2 GW gas-fired power plant complex in Ohio worth 33 billion dollars, the construction of a deepwater crude oil export facility in the Gulf of Mexico, and the construction of an industrial synthetic diamond production facility in Georgia.
aber@fnnews.com Park Ji-young Reporter