Trump says South Korea is still studying Alaska LNG, threatens to 'double it up'

President Donald Trump acknowledged Friday that South Korea has not signed on to the Alaska LNG project, two days after his administration announced Korean investment in it at the White House. "They're still studying it," Trump said in an informal gaggle, a brief exchange with reporters, as he left the White House for Alabama, according to a transcript. He was responding to a question about South Korea's statement that it had not signed off.

Denying he had jumped the gun, he said "they were there and they were represented. And let's see, if they don't want to do it, that's okay with me." Then: "Tell them if they don't sign shortly, I'm going to double it up, okay?" He did not say what would be doubled, by how much, or by when; the gaggle moved on to diesel exports.

At Wednesday's Oval Office event, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said just over $50 billion would go to Alaska LNG as part of Korean projects "fully paid for by the Korean government," Alaska News reported. A day later, South Korea's industry minister said he had protested to Lutnick that the announcement went well beyond what the countries agreed, Alaska News reported. The joint U.S.-South Korean fact sheet says the countries "have agreed to commence working on the Alaska LNG project, subject to meeting commercial reasonableness" and domestic legal requirements, and it names no dollar figure for Alaska LNG. South Korean President Lee Jae-myung wrote that work would begin only if the project's commercial viability is confirmed and it complies with South Korea's legal procedures.

Glenfarne Group, the project's developer, says it needs South Korean financing to reach a final investment decision, the point at which construction could begin. Glenfarne owns 75% of the project; the state owns 25% through the Alaska Gasline Development Corp. Glenfarne says the Korean money would carry the project to that decision, and it reports commercial agreements covering 13 of the 16 million tonnes per year of LNG sales it needs, a measure of how much liquefied gas buyers have agreed to take annually. Reuters has reported that most of the supply agreements signed so far are non-binding.

The project includes an 807-mile, 42-inch pipeline from the North Slope and a 20-million-tonne-per-year LNG terminal at Nikiski. The developer has said the in-state pipeline timeline depends on a tax deal from the Alaska Legislature and regulatory approval of a Southcentral Alaska gas supply agreement.

President Lee's statement was posted in Korean and was translated by AI.