South Korea Signs Deal for $50 Billion Alaska LNG Project Amid Concerns

South Korea's massive investments in the United States have raised concerns about their sustainability. According to Andrew Yeo, the SK-Korea Foundation Chair in Korea Studies at the Brookings Institution, these investments could amount to de facto aid to the US.

The Alaska gas pipeline project, which has been a long-sought American endeavor, is considered highly risky and unlikely to happen without substantial funding from the US. However, on September 30, 2026, US President Donald Trump announced that Korea agreed to begin joint work on a $50 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Alaska.

The project aims to build a 1,300 km pipeline to transport natural gas deposited in northern Alaska to a port near Anchorage in the south. Despite its massive costs and previous backing out by global energy giants like ExxonMobil and BP due to economic unfeasibility, Trump made a unilateral promise that the project would bring groundbreaking change for Alaska residents.

Experts on bilateral ties say the US is shifting from a 'values-based alliance' guided by shared liberal democratic ideals to a 'transactional alliance,' in which treatment depends on a partner's contributions. However, some critics argue that such an unequal alliance even qualifies as extortion, especially given the US imposition of tariffs and demand for Korea to pour money into the venture.