U.S. pressures Korea, Japan to invest in Alaska LNG

The U.S. National Energy Dominance Council (NEDC) under the supervision of the White House reportedly asked Korea and Japan to officially announce their plans related to the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) pipeline construction in Alaska within a few weeks. It is widely believed that the project may be discussed with significant weight as energy cooperation is considered one of the key agendas in the ongoing tariff negotiations with the U.S. Furthermore, the U.S also is reportedly pressuring both Korea and Japan to actively join the project.

On April 24, the New York Times (NYT) reported, citing three U.S. officials, that the NEDC is preparing a talk on June 2 in Alaska which will be attended by high-level trade officials from Korea and Japan. The officials noted that they can hopefully make an official announcement after the talk that Korea and Japan signed a letter of intent (LOI) to invest in the Alaska LNG pipeline construction project. Taiwan's CPC Corporation already signed the LOI for the project on March 20.

Previously, President Trump stated that Korea and Japan will join the LNG pipeline project in his first Congressional address for the second term on March 4. This resources development project involves transporting natural gas extracted from northern Alaska via a 1,200-kilometer pipeline to a liquefaction plant facility near Anchorage, the state's largest city. The NYT estimated that this project would require at least 44 billion U.S. dollars.

On April 24, Korean Minister Ahn Duk-keun of Trade, Industry, and Energy, participating in Korea-U.S. 2+2 Trade Consultation in Washington, stated that he needed to learn about the situation and make a decision after on-site inspection. He further mentioned he will thoroughly review all factors that need to be considered before deciding whether the project is feasible. Ahn continued to state that he and his team knew about the event scheduled on June 2 but it is the first time he heard about the pressure to sign the LOI at that time.


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