The People Power Party on the 1st pressed the government to disclose whether it knew in advance about U.S. announcements of South Korean investment projects in the United States, calling Seoul's handling of the matter "incompetent and subservient diplomacy."
PPP members of the National Assembly's Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee and the Finance and Economic Planning Committee held a news conference at the National Assembly on the same day. "Did the government already negotiate specific investment figures with the U.S. side while telling the National Assembly that the matter was only under review?" they asked. "Or did the U.S. government unilaterally announce figures the government never agreed to?"
U.S. President Donald Trump on the 30th of last month unveiled South Korean investment projects in the United States, including an Alaska liquefied natural gas project and the construction of eight large nuclear reactors. A White House official put the LNG investment at $54 billion.
The PPP said the joint fact sheet specified only the start of a feasibility review without any specific investment amount, and that the government had reported to the National Assembly a plan for further review — a gap, the party said, from what the U.S. side announced.
The lawmakers focused in particular on the origin of the $54 billion figure. "If the government negotiated with the U.S. side and then described it to the National Assembly as merely a 'review stage,' that is a grave matter that damages the national interest of the Republic of Korea," the PPP said. The party also criticized the episode, saying, "If the U.S. president pushed ahead with a unilateral announcement without sufficient discussion or consent from our side, that is a serious diplomatic disaster for the government."
The PPP lawmakers demanded the government disclose immediately whether it had known of, discussed or consented to the investment scale announced by the U.S. side. They also urged the government to report to the National Assembly the proposals exchanged between the two governments, the course of the talks, and discussions on the scale and structure of the investment. They further stressed that the government should disclose specific criteria for judging commercial rationality and comply with the National Assembly consent procedures set out in the Korea-U.S. Strategic Investment Act.
"This is a dismal situation in which an astronomical investment plan that has not even been finalized is announced as a fait accompli through the mouth of the top leader of an allied country," they said. "We cannot but ask what efforts the government is making to protect the national interest." The lawmakers added, "We will never stand by and watch taxpayers' money reduced to campaign funds for a foreign head of state, or any form of subservient diplomacy that damages the national interest and sovereignty of the Republic of Korea."
Koo Ja-keun, the opposition liaison on the industry committee, told reporters after the news conference: "We cannot help but suspect whether there was pressure related to a deployment to the Strait of Hormuz or to semiconductors, and whether this was then decided in haste." He added, "We call on the Lee Jae-myung government and the industry ministry to provide an active explanation."
