First confirmation of remittance of investment funds to the U.S. by government audit... Texas power plant meets commercial feasibility

First confirmation of remittance by government inspection... “Satisfying Texas power plant commercial feasibility”

For the Alaska business, "commercial incentives must be considered... reviewed in the direction of improvement."

(Sejong = Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Dae-hee and Song Jeong-eun = Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economy Lee Hyung-il confirmed that $2.4 billion was remitted to the United States on the 1st of this month as the first investment in the United States.

Deputy Prime Minister Lee answered "Yes" when People Power Party lawmaker Lim Jae asked, "Was $2.4 billion remitted (to the U.S.) on October 1st after Korea and the U.S. jointly announced the fact sheets on September 30th and October 1st, respectively?" during the audit of the National Assembly's Finance and Economic Planning Committee on the 6th.

On the 1st, Korea and the United States confirmed 'Project Star' as their first project to build and operate a gas combined cycle power plant for an artificial intelligence (AI) data center with a capacity of 6.472 gigawatts (GW) in Encinal, Texas.

Approximately 10% of the total project cost of approximately $22.3 billion was transferred immediately after the agreement, and Deputy Prime Minister Lee's remarks on this day were the first time the government officially confirmed this fact.

Representative Lim pointed out, “If it is judged to be commercially viable, it is a preliminary report, but if not commercially feasible, the consent of the National Assembly must be obtained, but there has been no such discussion at all.”

Deputy Prime Minister Lee then emphasized, “We included it in the fact sheet after going through all the National Assembly reporting procedures.” Regarding the commercial rationality of the Texas power plant project, he explained, “I think it has been satisfied.”

When Rep. Lim pointed out that South Korea and the United States are sending conflicting messages regarding the $54 billion project 'Project North' (Alaska LNG development), Deputy Prime Minister Lee refuted, "We are talking about what is in the fact sheet."

Deputy Prime Minister Lee emphasized, "(Project North) is in the beginning stage of review, and we need to consider all commercial incentives," and added, "We plan to continue reviewing it in a way that improves commercial incentives."