South Korea nears $100 billion US energy deal: What to know

South Korea is nearing a major energy investment project deal worth $100 billion in the United States aimed at powering the AI boom in the competitive landscape.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal, under the deal South Korea would be financing the construction of up to eight nuclear power plants as confirmed by the sources privy to the matter.

The first nuclear reactors would come from American firm Westinghouse Electric’s design. Some subsequent reactors could use designs from South Korea's ⁠KEPCO.

Another $20 billion investment will be poured in a natural gas power plant in Texas for powering AI data centers.

As per report, the ​investments from South ⁠Korea are expected to unfold over a number of years.

Speaking about the details of the massive investment in the US, Seoul’s trade ministry said the contents have not yet been finalized. The White House has not yet responded to the report.

Last October, President Donald Trump and Lee Jae Myung finalized a trade deal in which South Korea committed $350 billion worth of investments to US manufacturing. In return, Washington capped tariffs on Korean imports to 15 percent.

However, the implementation has faced various hurdles and the biggest one came from Trump’s threats to raise tariffs on countries.

The announcement comes after South Korea faced snub from the US last month when Washington decided to scale back military drills due to Seoul’s lack of support in the Iran war.