South Korea’s First US Trade Deal Investment Is a Texas Gas Power Plant

The choice of gas generation over a flagship manufacturing or tech asset signals that Seoul is treating the trade commitment as an energy and infrastructure play, where capital can be deployed at scale and tied to US power demand. The self-imposed annual cap matters more than the first project: it frames the programme as measured and budget-bound rather than open-ended, which limits how much leverage Washington can extract in any single cycle. Whether the nuclear and Alaska options advance — and whether the cap holds as political pressure builds — is the open question.