15 October 1999
Text: GAO Report on U.S./North Korea Agreement on Energy
(GAO notes that Pyongyang may be diverting fuel oil) (620) The United States General Accounting Office (GAO) has sent a report on the status of heavy fuel oil delivered to North Korea under the Agreed Framework of 1994 to House International Relations Committee Chairman Benjamin Gilman. Under the agreement, the United States pledged to help North Korea acquire two light-water nuclear reactors for electricity generation and, to offset the energy forgone by the freeze on North Korea's nuclear reactors, the United States pledged to arrange through the organization for deliveries of 500,000 metric tons of heavy fuel oil annually until the first reactor was completed. The Agreed Framework provides that the fuel oil is to be used for heating and electricity generation. However, the GAO says reports have alleged that North Korea has diverted some of this heavy fuel oil for purposes not specified in the Agreed Framework, including resale abroad. Following is the text: (begin text) United States General Accounting Office GAO Report to the Chairman, Committee on International Relations, House of Representatives September 1999 NUCLEAR NONPROLIFERATION Status of Heavy Fuel Oil Delivered to North Korea Under the Agreed Framework GAO/RCED-99-276 GAO United States General Accounting Office Washington, D.C. 20548 Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division B-283603 September 30, 1999 The Honorable Benjamin A. Gilman Chairman, Committee on International Relations House of Representatives Dear Mr. Chairman: During the early 1990s, North Korea's nuclear program was suspected of producing nuclear material capable of being fashioned into nuclear weapons. To address this threat and ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula, the United States and North Korea signed an agreement known as the Agreed Framework on October 21, 1994. /1 Under this agreement, North Korea agreed to freeze the construction and operation of its existing nuclear reactors and related facilities, to eventually dismantle this equipment, and to comply with the international Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. In exchange, the United States pledged to help North Korea acquire two light-water nuclear reactors for electricity generation by arranging for their construction through an international consortium, the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO). /2 Furthermore, to offset the energy forgone by the freeze on North Korea's nuclear reactors, the United States pledged to arrange through the organization for deliveries of 500,000 metric tons of heavy fuel oil annually until the first reactor was completed. /3 An agreement on the actual schedule for delivering the reactors has not yet been concluded. The Agreed Framework provides that the fuel oil is to be used for heating and electricity generation. However, reports have alleged that North Korea has diverted some of this heavy fuel oil for purposes not specified in the Agreed Framework, including resale abroad. ------------------------------------------- 1/ "Agreed Framework Between the United States of America and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea." The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is commonly known as North Korea. 2/ KEDO was established on Mar. 9, 1995, by the governments of Japan, the Republic of Korea (South Korea), and the United States. The governments of Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, the Czech Republic, Finland, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Poland have since joined the organization. In Sept. 1997, the European Atomic Energy Community-an organization of the European Union-joined KEDO and, with Japan, South Korea, and the United States, became a member of its Executive Board. The organization's activities are funded primarily by members' contributions. 3/ A KEDO consultant (Management Strategies, Inc.) estimates that in 1996, 500,000 metric tons represented 45 percent of North Korea's total annual heavy fuel oil needs. (end text) (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
