Donald Trump reiterated on his social media (SNS) on this day, claiming that "South Korea has decided to invest $50 billion (approx. 67 trillion won) in the Alaska liquefied natural gas (LNG) development project," adding that "this is part of a bilateral trade and investment agreement." The day before, during a campaign rally in support of Alaska, he also presented South Korea's LNG investment as an accomplished fact and a major achievement.

Contrary to Trump's unilateral claims, the South Korean government maintains the position that the Alaska LNG project is still under review, and that participation in the investment will depend on guarantees of economic rationality and feasibility. This means that no decision has yet been made regarding actual investment.

Going a step further and using South Korea's investment in the LNG development project as a given premise, Trump claimed that "Taiwan will make a $4.4 billion equity investment in the Alaska LNG project and has contracted to purchase $70 billion to $80 billion worth of LNG." He stated, "This accounts for 30% of the gas pipeline supply over the next 20 years," calling it "the largest purchase commitment in history."

Following South Korea and Taiwan, Trump also unilaterally disclosed details of Japan's investment in the United States. In a separate SNS post that day, he announced, "Under my leadership, GlobalFoundries and the Department of Commerce led by Secretary Howard Lutnick are announcing a massive $21 billion investment to build two giant new semiconductor manufacturing facilities in Malta, New York," adding that "Japan will fund the capital required for this $21 billion investment."

Trump went on to emphasize that Japan's investment was the result of his historic trade agreement aimed at "rebuilding America's industrial base, creating hundreds of thousands of great American jobs, and strengthening national and economic security," highlighting that the investment was secured through pressure tied to tariff reductions.

U.S. foundry manufacturer GlobalFoundries previously transferred a 3% stake to the U.S. government as a condition for receiving U.S. government subsidies. With this new investment, the U.S. government's stake is expected to increase to 7%. Regarding this, Trump stated, "The U.S. government's total investment (via Japanese funds) is $1.63 billion, and the value of the stake currently held by the government (7%) exceeds $2.0 billion."

The Trump administration initially pressured South Korea as well regarding investments in the semiconductor industry. However, the trade agreement signed between South Korea and the U.S. stipulates that companies established using U.S.-bound investment funds belong to the United States. Based on this, the South Korean government reportedly expressed reluctance to invest in the semiconductor sector, conveying that it is impossible to transfer ownership of domestic semiconductor companies possessing advanced technologies to the U.S. government.

Meanwhile, having publicly pressured Asian allies including South Korea for U.S. investments, Trump earlier that morning posted on SNS that "large-scale oil, gas, and mineral exploration in Greenland is set to begin soon," hinting at the possibility of launching resource development projects in Greenland.

However, a tripartite security agreement signed last month between the United States, Denmark, and Greenland contains no explicit mention of oil or gas, other than the U.S. constructing two major military bases in Greenland and significantly increasing its stationed troops, stating only that the parties will "cooperate in mineral and economic development and business ventures."

Jørgen Hammeken-Holm, Greenland's Deputy Minister for Mineral Resources, told CNN, "There are activities by U.S. companies," but pushed back against Trump's claims, stating, "Our position is very far from large-scale exploration." He emphasized, "Small-scale exploration is underway, but actual operations could take years to reach." According to CNN, Greenland's resource deposits are located in remote Arctic regions where ice sheets are as thick as 1.6 kilometers and infrastructure is virtually non-existent.

[ⓒ Global Economic Times. 무단전재-재배포 금지]