The U.S. vice president said he expects the project to move forward, while Seoul says no final investment decision has been made.
The United States and South Korea still need to work out details of a proposed liquefied natural gas project in Alaska, U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Monday, October 5, while expressing confidence it will ultimately proceed amid strong Asian demand for American gas.
“The pipeline is something that we really want to see happen and a lot of our Asian friends want to happen as well,” Vance said, according to a White House pool report. He added that Japan was also interested. East Asian economies facing higher natural-gas prices could benefit from increased U.S. supplies, he said.
Vance’s comments followed President Donald Trump’s announcement last week of South Korean investment projects in the United States under the bilateral trade agreement signed in 2025. The projects he listed included a gas-fired power plant in Texas, eight (8) large-scale nuclear power plants and the Alaska LNG project.
South Korea’s industry ministry said the Alaska project had not been finalized. It said commercial viability and other factors must be reviewed before an investment decision is made. Vance’s optimism therefore does not mean Seoul has committed to financing the project.