South Korea will temporarily set up a strategic investment corporation to manage a special fund for its US$350 billion investment in the United States, as part of a bilateral tariff agreement finalized last month, Yonhap News Agency reported Wednesday.
The proposed entity, tentatively called Korea-US Strategic Investment Corp., is planned to operate for up to 20 years under a special bill submitted by the ruling Democratic Party to facilitate Seoul’s US investment plans, according to a joint statement from the finance and industry ministries.
The government aims to submit the bill this month following the summit in Gyeongju on October 29, where President Lee Jae Myung and US President Donald Trump finalized Seoul’s $350 billion investment pledge, agreed in exchange for lower US tariffs.
Under the agreement, $200 billion will be invested in cash installments, capped at $20 billion annually, alongside an additional $150 billion allocated for bilateral shipbuilding cooperation.
In return, the US will reduce tariffs on Korean automobiles from 25% to 15%, with the lower rate applied retroactively from the month the bill is submitted.