South Korea said Sunday it will provide 5,100 tons of steel plates to North Korea on Dec. 17 in a multilateral deal that involves the provision of energy or alternatives to North Korea in exchange for the North's disablement of its nuclear facilities by year-end.
Under the February accord involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan, Pyongyang will receive 500,000 tons of heavy fuel oil and energy-related equipment or alternate products equivalent to that amount of oil. The agreement also calls for the North to declare all of its nuclear programs by the end of the
year.
The shipment is to be made despite reports that the North will not meet the year-end deadline because of its reluctance to present a full list of its nuclear programs. U.S. President George W. Bush sent a personal letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il last week urging him to keep his word on the disablement and declaration by Dec. 31.
The shipment is the first alternative to oil sent to the North under the agreement, although participants in the six-way talks have been taking turns to provide 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil to the North every month in the past months.
Seoul has set aside 4.5 billion won to purchase the steel plates to be shipped on the Pohang-Nampo sea route. Pohang City, North Gyeongsang province, is the location of Pohang Iron and Steel Co., the nation's biggest mill.
In a related move, South Korea is contacting other parties to the six-party talks to convene a new round of working-group meetings in the middle of the week to deal with providing energy to the North, according to informed sources here.
The working group is one of five established by the February denuclearization deal. Other groups include those dealing with the formation of a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula, normalization of ties between Pyongyang, Washington and Tokyo and taking North Korea off the blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism.
Seoul officials hopes to hold the working group meeting on energy aid in Beijing Wednesday or Thursday to discuss the items to be delivered to the North as alternatives to heavy oil and scheduling the delivery of the aid, the sources said.