South Korea Will Invest $100 Billion in U.S. Nuclear Sector To Boost AI and Appease Trump

If the U.S. wins the AI race against China, it might have South Korea to thank.

On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported that the South Korean government would soon announce an investment of over $100 billion for eight nuclear power plants and a natural-gas project in Texas. The nuclear power plants will likely be built on federal land and use the AP1000 design by U.S.-based company Westinghouse Electric. 

Both sides have discussed having “at least some of the reactors” be the APR1400, built by South Korean manufacturer Kepco, according to the Journal. It’s the start of a string of strategic investments from Korea that could grow to include the Alaska Liquefied Natural Gas pipeline—an 807-mile project to transport natural gas from Alaska’s North Slope—according to the Seoul Economic Daily. The projects are part of the Trump administration’s push to accelerate America’s AI buildout, in this case, by developing the energy sources needed to sustain it.

It’s the culmination of a year-long trade negotiation between the two countries. The initial trade agreement—reached in October 2025—said South Korea would invest $350 billion in the U.S. in exchange for the U.S. reducing its tariff rate from 25 percent to 15 percent on most imports from South Korea. That includes $200 billion for strategic investments—$100 billion of which was earmarked for energy projects—and $150 billion for the U.S. shipbuilding sector. 

No tangible investment followed in the months since the initial announcement. As the Journal reports, that put the East Asian nation in the doghouse with the Trump administration. In January, President Donald Trump threatened to reimpose a 25 percent tariff rate because the South Korean National Assembly had not yet approved the deal. To get back in the president’s good graces, the South Korean government announced the creation of a state-run corporation earlier this year to select, finance, and manage investments in the U.S. and make “recommendations to Trump,” per the Journal. 

Dubbed the Korea-U.S. Strategic Investment Corporation, the organization will pursue “investments that create win-win outcomes for both countries,” South Korea’s Ministry of Finance and Economy said in June. It’s unclear whether South Korea would maintain any semblance of influence over the projects, as a normal primary investor would. Yet, the Seoul Economic Daily reports that a memorandum of understanding for the energy deal could be finalized as early as September 18. 

It’s a bit of déjà vu. Last October, Japan’s trade ministry announced it would invest $550 billion in the U.S. in return for lower tariffs. As part of its deal, Japan agreed to play a role in the Trump administration’s $80 billion buildout of Westinghouse’s AP1000 nuclear reactors across the United States, which could be financially lucrative for the federal government. 

There’s a particular irony in the president using tariffs to cudgel South Korea into investing billions in the U.S. when the initial trade agreement gives preference to Korean vendors and project managers, a move that would seemingly increase imports of goods and skilled workers from Korea. (It may also increase the trade deficit with South Korea, upending one of Trump’s many justifications for imposing tariffs in the first place.)

But while the Journal has chalked up the deal as “a win for Trump,” this victory could be particularly costly for one of America’s closest trading partners. 

Given the realities of building a nuclear power plant in the U.S.—it cost $35 billion to build two AP1000s in Georgia—financing eight nuclear power plants and a natural-gas project will likely exceed the $100 billion that South Korea earmarked for American energy projects last October.

The two countries have already revised initial estimates for the energy projects, with expected costs for a natural-gas plant in Encinal, Texas, around $22 billion, up from $20 billion, and the eight nuclear power plants totaling $120 billion, per the Seoul Economic Daily. The outlet reports that “because including all of the projects requested by the U.S. could push the total beyond the $200 billion set aside for strategic investment, the government is also weighing adjusting the investment size for each project or excluding some of them.”

A multibillion-dollar investment in the domestic AI industry would be a coup for the Trump administration’s stated objective to have America dominate the sector. 

However, the president’s victory could just as easily have come about from a trade agreement between the two countries that didn’t involve the U.S. bullying South Korea with the threat of tariffs.

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Source: https://reason.com/2026/09/11/south-korea-will-invest-100-billion-in-u-s-nuclear-sector-to-boost-ai-and-appease-trump/