South Korea Holds Inaugural Meeting for US$350 Billion Investment Pledge

By Kang Yoon-seung

SEJONG, July 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's finance minister on Thursday hosted the inaugural meeting of a steering committee tasked with reviewing the viability of potential projects in the United States under Seoul's US$350 billion investment pledge.

Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol hosted the steering committee meeting with the Korea-U.S. Strategic Investment Corp. (KUIC), which will be responsible for decision-making and fund management, according to the Ministry of Finance and Economy.

South Korea has been making preparations to implement its investment pledge made last year under trade negotiations with Washington, with the National Assembly passing the Special Act on Korea-U.S. Strategic Investment Management in March.

Potential investment projects are subject to review by the project management committee led by the industry minister and KUIC's steering committee, and will require additional approval from the National Assembly before consultations with Washington.

During the meeting, Koo suggested three main keywords for South Korea's investment projects in the U.S., namely "together, opening and productive."

"We will aim to implement a win-win investment that benefits both South Korea and the U.S. together," Koo said in opening remarks.

"(The projects) will also offer an opening to opportunities to our companies," Koo said, noting the investment projects will help South Korean businesses become key players in the global value chain.

"We will also carry out productive investment so that no funds, whose owner is the people, go to waste," Koo said. "The strategic investment in the U.S. is neither unilateral support nor aid. It is an investment intended to secure South Korea's future."

Koo added the committee will closely monitor the market situation while operating safety measures by negotiating the investment size and timeline.