SEOUL, October 08 (AJP) - Washington is increasingly leaning on Asian allies to give momentum to the long-stalled gas pipeline project in Alaska, with Vice President JD Vance saying it would move ahead whether with South Korea’s current government or its successor.
“It’s different because you have a president who delivers on his promises,” Vance told Alaska’s News Source on Tuesday, moments before departing aboard Air Force Two.
The vice president suggested Washington could also turn to Japan and other countries to get the project moving.
“I think you have some political dynamics, frankly, in South Korea, but we’re going to get this done, whether the current government or the next government in South Korea, or frankly, whether we have to work with the Japanese and other nations, to get it done.”
He did not elaborate on what he meant by South Korea’s political dynamics.
“People are desperate for the gas that comes out of the state. It’s cheaper, it’s higher quality, it’s more reliable because it’s coming from Alaska as opposed to some tin-pot dictatorship. The fact that it’s so in demand and the fact that you have an administration who’s committed to making it happen: we are going to get this done.”
The pipeline also featured prominently in Vance’s speech at a midterm campaign rally in Fairbanks on Monday to support Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. He did not address the uncertainty over South Korea’s participation in that speech.
His remarks followed President Donald Trump’s warning last Friday that Seoul could face higher tariffs if it failed to commit to the Alaska project.
“Well, I didn’t jump the gun. I mean, they were there, and they were represented,” Trump told reporters when asked about Seoul’s position that an investment decision remained subject to a review of commercial viability.
“If they don’t want to do it, that’s OK with me. I’ll just charge them more.”
“Tell them if they don’t sign shortly, I’m going to double it up,” he added, apparently referring to tariffs.
Trump announced last week that South Korea would invest up to $200 billion in U.S. energy projects, including the Alaska liquefied natural gas project, eight nuclear power plants and a gas-fired power plant in Texas. He put South Korea’s investment in the Alaska project at $54 billion.
The proposed investments fall under a broader bilateral trade arrangement that lowered U.S. tariffs on South Korean goods to 15 percent.
Seoul, however, has maintained that no final investment decision has been made on Alaska LNG and that participation remains conditional on a review of the project’s commercial viability.
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