The White House on the 30th (local time) released a fact sheet detailing, item by item, the investments that Korean corporations will put into U.S. aviation, shipbuilding, and energy industries. It was a follow-up after U.S. President Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social account that he had reached an agreement on a tariff negotiation with Korea following the U.S.-Korea summit.
In the post, President Trump said, "The Korean government will 'pay' $350 billion and agreed to additionally purchase large quantities of oil and gas," adding, "wealthy Korean corporations and businesspeople will invest more than $600 billion (about 857 trillion won) in the United States." While President Trump did not make the aggregates of government and corporate investments clear, Fox News the same day calculated government and private investments separately and reported that "Korea will invest a total of $950 billion (about 1,358 trillion won)."
According to the White House fact sheet, Korean corporations pledged large-scale investments in aviation, shipbuilding, and energy. The largest single contract came in aviation. Korean Air will purchase 103 new Boeing aircraft, worth a total of $36.2 billion (about 47 trillion won). The White House said the deal could create up to 135,000 jobs across the United States. Korean Air will also separately buy GE Aerospace's state-of-the-art engines for these aircraft for $13.7 billion. The Republic of Korea Air Force also signed a $2.3 billion contract with L3Harris Technologies to develop a new airborne warning and control system (AWACS).
In the United States, the shipbuilding sector drew the most attention among the outcomes of Trump's visit to Korea. The U.S. shipbuilding industry once dominated the world but effectively lost competitiveness after the 1980s. U.S. shipyards have faced a situation where they cannot build new warships on time, let alone repair existing ones, due to a shortage of skilled workers and aging facilities. The gap with China in naval power is widening. Defense One, a U.S. defense industry outlet, analyzed that "the related industry withered as the government cut support for the commercial shipbuilding industry in the 1980s and integrated shipbuilding bases in the military institutional sector."
Korean corporations are set to pour at least $10 billion (about 14.3 trillion won) into reviving U.S. shipbuilding. According to the White House, HD Hyundai and U.S. firm Cerberus Capital Management will cooperate on a $5 billion investment program. The goals include modernizing U.S. shipyards, strengthening supply chains, and applying new technologies such as autonomous navigation. Samsung Heavy Industries will join forces with U.S. Beigott Marine Group in U.S. Navy warship maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), shipyard automation, and new construction of U.S. vessels.
Hanwha Ocean announced an infrastructure plan to invest $5 billion in the Philly Shipyard in Pennsylvania. Hanwha acquired the shipyard for $100 million at the end of 2024. It will invest 50 times the acquisition funds to expand production capacity. The goal is to increase annual construction from the current two vessels to as many as 20. Hanwha Ocean plans to build the first Korea-style nuclear-powered submarine here by the mid-2030s.
Large-scale investments exceeding several trillion won are also expected in energy and critical minerals. The structure largely has Korea participating as a key partner in a U.S.-led strategy to strengthen energy dominance. The United States is currently the world's largest LNG exporter. For Korea, it is advantageous to diversify energy supply chains away from unstable regions such as the Middle East. For the United States, a structure has been created to secure, over the long term, countries that will reliably consume massive new production volumes.
According to the White House, Korea Gas Corporation signed a long-term contract to purchase about 3.3 million tons of U.S. LNG annually. LS Group plans to invest $3 billion in U.S. power grid infrastructure such as subsea cables and power equipment by 2030. The White House also said that LS Cable & System's U.S. subsidiary LS Greenlink is building a $681 million manufacturing facility in Virginia.
U.S. ReElement Technologies and POSCO International agreed to build a complex in the United States for rare earth separation, refining, and magnet production. It strongly reflects participation in the U.S. supply chain restructuring strategy to reduce dependence on China. In addition, the White House announced that U.S. Centrus Energy, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, and POSCO International agreed to expand the uranium enrichment facility in Piketon, Ohio.
The White House called the investments "a groundbreaking transaction to support U.S. jobs, strengthen energy dominance, enhance technological revolution leadership, and build maritime partnerships," adding, "President Trump's visit to Korea reaffirmed the U.S.-Korea alliance and advanced U.S. economic interests."