WASHINGTON — President Trump announced that South Korea has agreed to invest $54 billion to help build a natural gas pipeline across Alaska, a centerpiece of a broader $200 billion South Korean investment package tied to last year's U.S.-Korea trade agreement.

The proposed pipeline would run more than 800 miles, connecting Alaska's North Slope gas fields to an export terminal in the southern part of the state, with backers arguing it would also lower energy costs for Alaskans by giving the state reliable access to its own natural gas, according to NBC News. The rest of the $200 billion package is earmarked for eight large-scale nuclear power plants and a separate power facility in Texas.

Seoul Pumps the Brakes

But South Korean President Lee Jae Myung pushed back on the framing within hours, saying Seoul's participation in the Alaska project is still contingent on whether the numbers pencil out. CNBC reported Lee said any commitment depends on the project's "commercial viability" and compliance with South Korean law — a notably more cautious tone than Trump's announcement suggested.

The Alaska LNG project has struggled for years to attract outside investors despite repeated White House pushes to use tariff leverage to recruit Asian buyers of U.S. energy. The administration has cast South Korean involvement as validation of that strategy, while skeptics note previous rounds of touted "commitments" from trade partners have taken years, if ever, to turn into signed, binding contracts.

No construction timeline or financing agreement has been finalized. Alaska's congressional delegation has pushed for the project for over a decade, citing both energy security and thousands of promised construction jobs.