Seoul, March 17 (IANS) The South Korean government said on Tuesday it has launched a committee to preliminarily review potential investment projects in the United States under a bilateral strategic investment agreement.

The government published a presidential directive in the official gazette establishing a temporary implementation committee for the Korea-U.S. strategic investment memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed in November.

The move marks a preparatory step toward establishing a new state-run corporation tasked with implementing Seoul’s envisioned US$350 billion investment in the U.S. after the National Assembly of South Korea passed a special bill to support the initiative last week, reports Yonhap news agency.

The special legislation will take effect three months after its proclamation.

As part of efforts to speed up procedures to select U.S. investment projects before the law takes effect, Seoul launched the committee to conduct preliminary reviews of potential projects.

The strategic investment MOU implementation committee, headed by the industry minister, will oversee investment consultations with Washington and assess the commercial feasibility and economic value of potential projects, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources.

Details of the potential projects currently under review has yet to be disclosed, but they are expected to be in line with the bilateral MOU between Seoul and Washington, which outlines cooperation in advanced industries, including energy, semiconductor, pharmaceuticals, critical minerals and artificial intelligence (AI), as well as shipbuilding.

Meanwhile, President Lee Jae Myung said on Tuesday the government should prepare measures to mitigate the potential economic fallout under the worst-case scenario where the Middle East crisis becomes prolonged.

Lee made the call as the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global oil shipping route, has effectively been shut as the U.S.-led war in Iran entered its third week, raising concerns for South Korea, which relies heavily on energy imports.

“From now on, we must prepare measures with even the worst-case scenario in mind on the premise that the Middle East situation may be prolonged,” Lee said during a Cabinet meeting held in the administrative city of Sejong.

—IANS

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