Korea snubs Alaska LNG as high-risk venture

Howard Lutnick and Scott Bessent, two of the obsequious Yes Men in the Trump cabinet, have repeatedly spread the fantasy that Trump will be able to order Japan and Korea, among others, to pay for the giant Alaska LNG project, which could cost more than $70 billion.

It appears someone forgot to tell the Japanese and the Koreans.

The Alaska project was not part of the preliminary list of potential projects that Japan is considering. And the Koreans are saying no.

”Minister of Trade, Industry and Resources Kim Jung-kwan stated that the U.S. Alaska LNG (liquefied natural gas) construction project is unlikely to qualify as a target for the U.S.-bound investment fund. This contradicts the Trump U.S. administration’s earlier suggestion that South Korea could participate in the Alaska gas field project,” The Chosun Daily reported November 7.

“Minister Kim, attending a plenary session of the National Assembly’s Budget and Accounts Special Committee in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 6th, said, “Gas pipeline projects are high-risk ventures,” adding, “Commercial viability is limited to projects capable of generating cash flow, so under our criteria, the Alaska gas field does not easily qualify.”

He said Korea would monitor the project’s progress with interest.

The more that reports circulate in Japan and Korea that Trump will dictate investment terms, the more likely it is that these so-called investments will not take place and the clock on the Trump presidency will be allowed to run out.

The Korea Times said earlier: “Secretary Lutnick has already mentioned the Alaska Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) Project as a likely destination for Korean funds. The Alaska LNG project is primarily an energy-infrastructure venture based in the U.S., and its relevance to Korea’s long-term economic or industrial interests remains unclear. Korean participation in secondary or follow-on projects may be theoretically possible, but the reality is discouraging: Finnish shipbuilders have already secured most of the icebreaker contracts tied to the project, leaving slim prospects of meaningful gain for Korea.