Don’t break out the shovels just yet.
Less than a day after endangered Alaska Republicans joined President Donald Trump in the Oval Office for a grand announcement to advance a long sought after natural gas pipeline project funded by South Korea, the country’s officials have fired back that not only isn’t it a done deal, but the project is not high on their list.
Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan told reporters on Thursday that the only thing the two countries had agreed upon was to start discussions on the possibility of investing in several US projects, with the only confirmed one being a Texas nuclear power project. He also stressed that the Alaska pipeline project, known as AKLNG, still has to pencil out financially for South Korea to invest in it—something Alaska lawmakers spent much of this year’s legislative session working on to no avail.
“This morning (after the announcement), I lodged a strong protest with [US Commerce Secretary Howard] Lutnick as the announcement went far beyond what was agreed, as the countries agreed to proceed with the Alaska project only on the premise that commercial reasonableness is guaranteed,” Kim said, according to reporting by The Korea Times, which also noted that he has long said that the project’s commercial reasonableness is low.
Those comments were reinforced in a translated social media post by South Korea President Lee Jae Myung, who said the project will proceed on the condition that “its commercial viability is confirmed” and that it “complies with Korea’s legal procedures.”
The 807-mile liquefied natural gas pipeline has eluded Alaska for decades, in large part because natural gas is far less profitable compared to the oil that flows 800 miles through the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. Over the last decade, Alaska has marketed its natural gas to countries in Asia as a more secure and stable alternative to Middle Eastern sources, but even with significant tax breaks, the AKLNG project’s final gas price would still struggle to compete.
According to The Korea Times, Kim said whatever strategic benefit there is for Alaska gas, it’s not enough to overcome bad economics.
In the latest push to bring the project to construction, lawmakers found that even cutting state and local taxes by as much as 90% only made the project slightly more realistic. Lawmakers found that other factors, like the cost of natural gas and the cost to build the pipeline are far larger—and far harder to control for.
To many Alaska skeptics of the project, Wednesday’s announcement wasn’t anything to get excited about. Instead, it looked to them a lot like a stunt to boost Sullivan ahead of the election.
“We had been hearing from sources for months that there would be a political stunt like this right before the November election regarding federal involvement in this project,” said state Sen. Bill Wielechowski in a social media post following the announcement, comparing it to Trump’s promise to cut Americans a $5,000 check if Republicans maintained control of Congress.
And if the whole thing wasn’t concocted to help Sullivan, Trump wasn’t beating the allegations with his near-constant, effusive praise directed for the embattled Alaska Senator.
“The people of Alaska, who I love, don’t know how good he is, he’s really good,” Trump said, when asked why Sullivan seems to be struggling in a state that Trump won by 13 points in 2024. “If the people of Alaska knew what I know—and I know the real facts—there wouldn’t even be a race.”
Matt Acuña Buxton is a long-time political reporter who has written for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and The Midnight Sun political blog. He also authors the daily politics newsletter, The Alaska Memo, and can frequently be found live-tweeting public meetings on Bluesky.
