South Korea's President Lee said negotiations over a $350 billion U.S. investment package have left him 'awake at night' after he found unacceptable clauses in an almost-finalised deal that forced talks to reopen. The dispute underscores Seoul's difficulty implementing last year's investment plan agreed with the Trump administration as both sides work to pick initial projects. Washington's frustration over delays prompted President Trump to abruptly scale back U.S.-South Korea joint military exe

2026-09-18

South Korea's President Lee said negotiations over a $350 billion U.S. investment package have left him 'awake at night' after he found unacceptable clauses in an almost-finalised deal that forced talks to reopen. The dispute underscores Seoul's difficulty implementing last year's investment plan agreed with the Trump administration as both sides work to pick initial projects. Washington's frustration over delays prompted President Trump to abruptly scale back U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises last month. Lee said Seoul will only proceed with projects deemed commercially viable and insisted on that condition in the agreement after 'very tough' talks with Washington.