Exhibit 99.1.

                   U. S. STEEL ANNOUNCES OPTION AGREEMENT WITH
               NKK CORPORATION FOR THE PURCHASE OF NKK'S INTEREST
                          IN NATIONAL STEEL CORPORATION

     PITTSBURGH, Jan. 17 - 91ÖÆƬ³§ Corporation (NYSE: X) announced
today that it has entered into an Option Agreement with NKK Corporation of
Japan.  The agreement grants U. S. Steel an option to purchase, either directly
or through a subsidiary, all of NKK's stock in National Steel Corporation (NYSE:
NS) and to restructure a $100 million loan previously made to National Steel by
a NKK subsidiary.  The NKK stock in National Steel - 22.1 million Class A shares
- - represents approximately 53 percent of National's outstanding shares.  The
option expires on June 15, 2002.
     If the option is exercised, NKK will receive warrants to purchase 4 million
shares of U. S. Steel common stock in exchange for its National Steel shares.
The warrants will be exercisable through June 2007 at a price equal to 150
percent of the average closing price for U. S. Steel's stock during a 60-day
period prior to the issuance of the warrants. In connection with any exercise of
the option, the NKK subsidiary loan to National Steel would be restructured into
an unsecured, non-interest bearing $30 million note, with a 20-year term,
convertible into 1 million shares of U. S. Steel common stock.  In addition, U.
S. Steel will, if it exercises the option, offer to acquire the remaining shares
of National Steel in exchange for either warrants with no less value than those
provided to NKK or U. S. Steel stock based upon an exchange ratio of 0.086
shares of U. S. Steel stock for each share of National Steel stock.  The
minority shareholder option to receive warrants will not be available unless a
sufficient number of those shareholders elect to receive warrants to permit such
warrants to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
     As part of the Option Agreement, U. S. Steel and National Steel have agreed
to begin negotiation of a merger agreement pursuant to which U. S. Steel would
acquire National Steel through a merger with a newly formed U. S. Steel
subsidiary.  Also, NKK and U. S. Steel have agreed to enter into discussions for
the purpose of developing a business alliance to support Japanese auto
manufacturers in North America.
     Although U. S. Steel has the ability to exercise the option at any time
during its term, it is U. S. Steel's current intent not to exercise the option
or to consummate a merger with National Steel unless a number of significant
conditions are satisfied, including a substantial restructuring of National
Steel's debt, and other obligations.  Other significant conditions would be the
key contingencies previously announced by U. S. Steel with respect to industry
consolidation.
     The first such contingency requires the implementation of President Bush's
three-part program, announced June 5, 2001, to address the flood of steel
imports that have depressed markets in the United States.  A critical part of
the President's program is a strong remedy under Section 201 of the Trade Act of
1974 (Section 201).  U. S. Steel, and other major steelmakers, including Nucor
Corporation, recently announced that they consider, as a minimum, a 40 percent
tariff rate to be a critical part of the remedy.  The tariff must extend for a
four-year period and cover the full range of products where injury has been
found by the International Trade Commission.
     The second contingency is the removal by the government of the principal
barrier to industry consolidation: employee-related obligations that certain
steelmakers have accrued through prior restructuring actions, as well as those
that will result from future rationalization activities.  Obligations of
domestic steelmakers that may be acquired by other domestic steel companies, as
well as obligations to workers displaced in any subsequent rationalization, need
to be reassigned to relevant government agencies, with existing government
programs absorbing that cost to the maximum extent possible.  No direct
government payments to any steel company would be required, and U. S. Steel and
any other acquiring company would remain responsible for their own obligations.
     The third contingency requires a progressive new labor agreement that would
provide for meaningful reductions in operating costs.  U. S. Steel has held
preliminary discussions concerning industry consolidation with the leadership of
the United Steelworkers of America, which is generally supportive of the
concept.
     U. S. Steel Chairman, CEO and President Thomas J. Usher said, "We believe
that an acquisition of National Steel, under the right circumstances, would be a
positive first step toward consolidation in the steel industry.  Of course, we
are willing to proceed with such an acquisition only if we determine that it is
in the best interests of our company's shareholders, customers, employees and
creditors."
     The potential exercise of the option by U. S. Steel, the negotiation and
possible consummation of any merger agreement, and the potential completion of
the industry consolidation plan referenced above are all subject to numerous
conditions, some of which are described above.  Many of these conditions depend
upon actions by other parties, such as the federal government.  There is no
assurance that the option will be exercised, that any merger agreement will be
negotiated and/or consummated, or that any industry consolidation in general
will occur, nor any specificity concerning the terms upon which any of these
might occur, other than the specific terms of the Option Agreement.  Financial
performance and results in the steel industry, including the results of U. S.
Steel if any consolidation occurs, will be influenced by many factors.  In
accordance with "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995, U. S. Steel, formerly 91ÖÆƬ³§ LLC, a subsidiary
of USX Corporation, has included in the USX Corporation Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 2000, as amended in Forms 10-K/A, and in subsequent Forms 10-
Q and Forms 8-K, cautionary statements identifying important factors, but not
necessarily all factors, that could influence such results.