DATE=2/3/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=N KOREA / NUKE (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-258773
BYLINE=HYUN-SUNG KHANG
DATELINE=SEOUL
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: North Korea is demanding compensation from
the United States for delays in the promised
construction of two nuclear reactors. Hyun-Sung
Khang reports from Seoul, the North is
threatening to abandon its agreement with
Washington to freeze its nuclear power program.
TEXT: North Korea is accusing the United States
of an unacceptable delay in the building of the
two-light water reactors. The reactors were
promised by a U-S-led consortium, under an
agreement made in 1994. In return, North Korea
pledged to freeze its nuclear power program,
which Western nations feared would be used to
manufacture weapons.
The first of the donated reactors was due to be
completed in 2003, with the second to be finished
a year later. But arguments over financing
between members of the consortium -- which
includes South Korea, Japan and the United States
-- has delayed the project by seven years. And
now Pyongyang says it wants compensation for that
delay.
In an interview published by the North Korean
Central News Agency, the country's Vice Premier
warned that Pyongyang may be forced to abandon
its agreement with the United States. Jo Chang
Dok said North Korea will be left with no option
but to go its own way. The vice premier accused
the United States of a blatant violation of the
agreement. He said Washington should be held
responsible for shortages of electricity in the
country, which, he said, are causing huge
economic losses.
Mr. Jo said the energy shortage was entirely due
to the delay in the building of the two reactors.
But analysts blame the delays on the country's
outdated and crumbling power system and backward
economy.
South Korean data suggests that the gross
domestic product of the North has been cut in
half in the last six years, following the
collapse of the former Soviet Union, which helped
prop up North Korea's economy. The economic
disintegration has caused widespread food
shortages, which may have claimed thousands,
possibly millions of lives.
The warning from North Korea comes just a few
days after Pyongyang agreed, during talks with
the United States, to dispatch a high-level
delegation to the Washington. Representatives
from the two countries are also due to meet in
New York, in a few weeks time. According to the
South Korean News Agency, the two sides are
preparing to discuss removing North Korea from
Washington's list of nations that sponsor
terrorism.
NEB/HSK/GC/FC/KL
03-Feb-2000 08:17 AM EDT (03-Feb-2000 1317 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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