On Thursday afternoon, local time, the South Korean National Assembly passed the “Special Law on Strategic Investment Management with the United States” during a plenary session, implementing the commitment to invest $350 billion in the United States.
According to reports from the South Korean news agency, under the “Special Law on Investment in the U.S.” passed by the National Assembly, South Korea will establish the “Korea-U.S. Strategic Investment Corporation” to fulfill the $350 billion investment commitment to the U.S. Of this amount, $150 billion will be specifically allocated to the shipbuilding industry, while the remaining $200 billion will be invested in areas promoting the economic and national security interests of both South Korea and the U.S.
The registered capital of the Korea-U.S. Strategic Investment Corporation is 20 trillion South Korean won (approximately $13.5 billion), all funded by the government. The South Korean President will issue an executive order regarding the timing and method of the government’s investment.
The term of office for the President of the Korea-U.S. Strategic Investment Corporation is 3 years, and the individual must possess at least 10 years of experience in the financial or strategic industrial sectors.
The investment company will establish the Korea-U.S. Strategic Investment Fund, raising funds through corporate contributions, assets approved by entrusted agencies in advance, and the issuance of Korea-U.S. strategic investment bonds. This fund will be used exclusively to invest in institutions designated by the U.S. government, as well as provide loans and guarantees to support investment cooperation between the two countries in the shipbuilding sector.
In November last year, the South Korean government signed a memorandum of understanding with the United States for a total of $350 billion in strategic investments. In the same month, the “Special Act on Investment in the U.S.” was proposed, and it took three and a half months to complete the legislative process.
On November 26th, last year, the South Korean Democratic Party submitted the “Special Act on Investment in the U.S.” to the National Assembly. Both South Korea and the U.S. agreed that starting from the 1st of the same month when the bill was initiated in the South Korean parliament, November 1st, the U.S. would reduce import tariffs on South Korean automobiles and components.
Subsequently, the bill went through the approval process and awaited review by the National Assembly’s Financial and Economic Planning Committee. In January of this year, U.S. President Trump announced a tariff increase citing South Korea’s failure to approve the bill promptly.
To expedite the legislative process, South Korea’s ruling and opposition parties established a special committee, and after a month of deliberation, the bill was passed on the 9th of this month.