{"id":261534,"date":"2026-05-23T01:21:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T16:21:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/news\/uncategorized\/2026\/05\/23\/6-7b-tennessee-project-hits-u-s-senate-a-key-to-economic-security\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T01:21:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T16:21:17","slug":"6-7b-tennessee-project-hits-u-s-senate-a-key-to-economic-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/news\/politics\/2026\/05\/23\/6-7b-tennessee-project-hits-u-s-senate-a-key-to-economic-security\/","title":{"rendered":"$6.7B Tennessee Project Hits U.S. Senate: A Key to Economic Security?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Translation result<\/p>\n

[iNews24 reporter Kim Dong-hyun] During the U.S. Senate confirmation hearing for Michelle Steel (Korean name Park Eun-joo), the nominee for U.S. ambassador to South Korea, senators raised Korea Zinc’s investment project.<\/p>\n

At a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on the 20th (local time), Senator Bill Hagerty described Korea Zinc’s Clarksville, Tennessee initiative, “Project Crucible,” as a highly strategic undertaking.<\/p>\n

\n Korea Zinc CI. [Photo=Korea Zinc]
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hagerty asked Steel to treat the project as a priority and to help ensure it proceeds smoothly if she assumes the ambassadorial post. Steel replied, “If confirmed, I will actively support it.”<\/p>\n

Observers said it was unusual for a specific South Korean company’s project to be raised during a U.S. Senate confirmation hearing.<\/p>\n

“Project Crucible” is a 9 trillion KRW (approximately $6.75 billion) critical-minerals and nonferrous-metals supply-chain project and is being described as the largest private investment in Tennessee history.<\/p>\n

The project has drawn attention amid U.S. efforts to strengthen domestic critical-minerals supply chains. Developers say the planned smelter would produce multiple nonferrous metals and strategic minerals and would include semiconductor-grade sulfuric acid capacity needed for chip manufacturing.<\/p>\n

\n Senator Bill Hagerty mentions Korea Zinc’s project during the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on the 20th (local time). [Photo=U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee website]
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In follow\u2011up questions, Hagerty also raised broader concerns about critical\u2011mineral supply chains and strategic investment. Analysts note that the U.S.-South Korea alliance, long focused on military and security cooperation, has in recent years expanded into economic-security and industrial supply-chain collaboration amid shifting geopolitical dynamics.<\/p>\n

The hearing also covered U.S.-Korea economic-security cooperation and trade issues. Senator Pete Ricketts pressed the source of roughly $350 billion in investment cited in the joint U.S.-Korea fact sheet. Steel said she wants to verify precisely where the funds come from and pledged to consult directly with Korean government officials.<\/p>\n

Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen also raised separate concerns about the transparency of shipbuilding cooperation funds and urged that related information be shared with the Foreign Relations Committee.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michelle Steel’s nomination as U.S. Ambassador to Korea included discussions on Korea Zinc’s investment projects.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/cdn-union.tenbizt.com\/contents\/crawler-dev\/thumbnail\/2026\/05\/CP-2023-0087\/thumb-b0f384bc-d09b-4d2f-b5a4-29584f4b4769.jpg","footnotes":""},"categories":[278093],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-261534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\n$6.7B Tennessee Project Hits U.S. Senate: A Key to Economic Security?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Michelle Steel's nomination as U.S. Ambassador to Korea included discussions on Korea Zinc's investment projects.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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