Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

PRESS RELEASE

Contact persons at KEDO:                                                                        January 31, 2000
Marc Vogelaar             (212) 455-0241
Kenji Nakano               (212) 455-0216
(Mr. Nakano can be contacted on Jan. 31 at Hotel Okura in Tokyo. The telephone number is 81-3- 3582-0111)

KEDO CONCLUDES A 116.5 BILLION-YEN LOAD AGREEMENT WITH JAPAN BANK FOR INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION FOR LIGHT-WATER REACTOR PROJECT IN NORTH KOREA

The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) concluded a loan agreement with Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC, formerly the Export-Import Bank of Japan) on January 31, 2000 at JBIC’s headquarters in Tokyo.  The agreement was signed between KEDO Executive Director Desaix Anderson and Mr. Kyosuke Shinozawa, JBIC Deputy Governor and Managing Director. 

Under the agreement, JBIC will provide a loan in the amount of up to 116.5 billion yen.   The loan agreement was concluded today in accordance with the “Agreement between KEDO and the Government of Japan on the Provision of Financing for the Implementation of the Light-Water Project” approved by the Japanese Diet last year.   

            The loan from JBIC will be used for KEDO’s Light-Water Reactor (LWR) Project to be supplied to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), along with a loan from the Export-Import Bank of Korea, with which KEDO concluded an agreement for Republic of  Korea’s (ROK) provision of 70% of the actual cost of the LWR Project on December 15, 1999.  The LWR Project, with a budget estimate of $4.6 billion, proceeds under a turn-key contract with KEDO’s prime contractor, the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), signed on December 15, 1999. 

(For Media Coverage)

The signing ceremony from 3:00 p.m., January 31, will be open to media.  Photos are allowed during the ceremony, but no questions will be taken by the participants of the ceremony.  No press conference is scheduled by either KEDO or JBIC.  Those interested in covering the event should contact Mr. Yukihisa Hayakawa at JBIC (telephone number 81-3-5218-3100) by 12:00 noon, January 31 (Tokyo time), for pre-registration.