Pacific Stars and Stripes
October 26, 1999
Pg. 4
North Korea Blasts U.S. For Dragging Feet On Agreement
By Jim Lea, Stripes Osan Bureau Chief
North Korea has marked the fifth anniversary of a 1994 nuclear agreement with the United States by blasting Washington for the near collapse of the deal because of American foot-dragging.
Radio Pyongyang, in a broadcast monitored in Seoul, claimed the agreement signed on Oct. 21, 1994, called for "simultaneous action" by the United States and North Korea.
But the slow pace of preliminary construction work by the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization and Washington's slowness in providing oil to fuel conventional power plants has put the project in danger, Pyongyang said.
"Given the U.S. attitude in implementing the promise over the past five years, the principle (of simultaneous action) has been violated, driving the agreement to a collapse," Radio Pyongyang said.
Under the agreement, Pyongyang is to be provided with two light-water nuclear reactors and the fuel oil for conventional power plants. In return, North Korea was to freeze its former nuclear program, which the United States and other Western intelligence agencies said included weapons development.
The reactors - to be paid for by South Korea and Japan - would replace Pyongyang's old Soviet-style, graphite-based reactor. It produced a significant amount of plutonium, a key ingredient in making nuclear weapons.
Cost of the new reactors has been estimated at $4.6 billion. Washington also promised $40 million worth of heavy oil to fuel conventional power plants until the new reactors go on line. The project originally was to be completed by 2003, but delays have revised that to at least 2005.
The U.S. Congress has caused some delay in providing fuel oil, as both the Senate and House have passed resolutions requiring President Clinton to certify that Pyongyang has in fact halted its nuclear program before releasing more money.
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