By Kim Young-in
Representatives of a former international consortium tasked to build two light-water reactors in North Korea last decade will call this month for the communist state to pay for the nearly $2 billion in losses incurred in the failed project, a Seoul official said Tuesday.
The demand by the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) would be the latest in back-and-forth moves over a project once considered a sign of progress toward the North’s abandonment of nuclear weapons programs. Observers said such a move could come at a particularly sensitive time as Pyongyang deals with the death of its late ruler Kim Jong-il.
The foreign ministry official said on condition of anonymity that the decision to press the North had been reached shortly before the announcement of Kim’s death on Dec. 17.
"KEDO will send an official letter this month, demanding the North pay $1.89 billion for the termination of the light-water reactor project," the official said.
KEDO, initially comprised of South Korea, Japan and the United States _ but later to include: Australia, Canada and New Zealand (1995); Argentina, Chile and Indonesia (1996); the European Union (1997); and Uzbekistan (2000) , agreed in 1994 to build two 1,000-megawatt light-water reactors in the North as part of a denuclearization-for-aid deal between Washington and Pyongyang. But the project fell apart in 2006 amid U.S. suspicions that the isolated state was operating a uranium-enrichment program that could provide
a second path toward building nuclear weapons.
Pyongyang has balked at the consortium’s efforts to recoup its losses, even claiming last year it was owed $5.8 billion for financial losses it sustained during the initiative. KEDO’s renewed pressure will be an official response to the North’s claim, the official said. The call will come at a time of uncertainty over the North’s nuclear program.
Pyongyang walked out of the six-party denuclearization talks ― made up of the two Koreas, the U.S., Russia, China and Japan ― in 2009 over international sanctions for its missile and nuclear tests.
It had shown interest in rejoining prior to Kim’s death, reportedly agreeing with Washington to suspend its uranium enrichment in return for food aid, a deal that would have paved the way for resumption. While the demise of the North Korean leader threw this into doubt, both sides have left the door open for further discussions.
Concern remains high that the North will continue to operate its nuclear weapons program and proliferation activities under its new leader, the late Kim’s youngest son Kim Jong-un.
In the latest sign of international jitters, a recent report by a nuclear scientist claimed Pyongyang conducted two clandestine nuclear tests in 2010, making the conclusion based on the mysterious appearance of radioactive materials in the South that year.
The claim comes courtesy of Lars-Erik De Geer, an atmospheric scientist at the Swedish Defense Research Agency in Stockholm, who conducted an examination of monitoring data from Russian and Japanese stations close to North Korea after scientists here detected traces of radioactive xenon that year.
Other experts quickly expressed skepticism, saying more evidence was needed to prove the findings, which were carried by the scientific journal Nature.
Man who pushed Korean to his death on New York subway track walks free 
Korea develops super-fast Wi-Fi 
New commander 
[INTERVIEW] 'Jesus' speaks on gay pride, Christian protesters 
Disabled in North Korea killed at birth 
Foreign woman, Korean brokers face prostitution charges 
BIGBANG's T.O.P receives suspended jail term for smoking marijuana 
Discrimination in Korean law 
[INTERVIEW] 'Blind hiring can be seed of hope,' says vice presidential spokesperson 
Summer vacation around the corner? Avoid traffic-choked roads July 29-Aug. 4 
.jpg)
.jpg)
.JPG)