SEOUL — South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said Friday that Seoul and Washington are still rewriting the fine print on a planned US$350 billion strategic investment package — delaying what was supposed to be the first public project under the commitment.
Speaking at a special press conference at Cheong Wa Dae, Lee said working-level talks had looked close to a deal, but details proved hard to accept. The sticking point, he said, is “commercial reasonableness”: how the investing side recovers capital, how returns are shared, and how losses are handled if a project goes wrong.
Seoul had planned to run the first project through its US investment project-management and operating committees this week, then brief the National Assembly and go public. A parliamentary briefing tentatively set for Thursday was pushed to Tuesday, and the public announcement was held. Lee also pointed to unfinished work on the financial structure of an umbrella investment special purpose vehicle (I-SPV) that would sit over the package.
Lee framed the $350 billion as ultimately tied to Korean taxpayers’ money and said Seoul had already compromised with an eye on US tariffs, the broader alliance, and investment templates struck by Japan, Taiwan and Singapore — while insisting national interest still comes first. “We will only undertake projects that are commercially reasonable,” he said, noting the law itself requires that assessment.
Separately, Lee said reported US pressure for Samsung Electronics and SK hynix to expand memory-chip production in America remains under discussion and is distinct from the $350 billion package — those plants would be company-funded — and must be weighed against domestic priorities such as the planned Honam semiconductor mega-project.
Bottom line: The headline number is locked; the unlock is whether Seoul and Washington can define commercial reasonableness tightly enough to green-light a first I-SPV project — and whether any Samsung/SK hynix US fab expansion steals capital and talent from Korea’s own chip build-out.
— WWC NEWSDESK
