South Korea will finalize and announce its first U.S. investment project in mid-September, Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said after an urgent trip to Washington. The announcement was initially expected in late August or early September, but working-level coordination and domestic procedures require additional time. Kim said the schedule leaves no room to discuss a U.S. demand for a semiconductor fab, drawing a firm line that the talks are focused on energy. He met twice with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on the 17th and 18th local time, then held discussions with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on trade issues including a Section 301 investigation under the Trade Act. Kim also met Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), to review follow-up measures for President Donald Trump's plan to rebuild the shipbuilding industrial base and strengthen bilateral shipbuilding cooperation. The project must pass reviews by the Korea-U.S. Strategic Investment Project Management Committee and the operating committee under the Korea-U.S. Strategic Investment Corporation before relevant details are reported to the National Assembly's Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee. Kim also said Park Jung-sung, the ministry's deputy minister for trade, would continue negotiations in an acting capacity after the dismissal of Yeo Han-koo, the former head of the Industry Ministry's Office of Trade Negotiations.