North Korean Light Water Reactor Assistance Suspended One More Year

On August 25, the Minister of Unification Chung Dong-young commented on the one-year suspension of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization’s (KEDO) construction of light water reactors in North Korea that took effect starting from December 1 2003, saying, “We are consulting with KEDO council members and pushing forward to extend [the period of suspension] for an extra year.”

Minister Chung attended the National Assembly’s Unification and Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee meeting on the subject and answered, “[The suspension] is closely related with North Korea’s nuclear problem.”

On the issue of the joint South Korea-North Korea response to China’s Goguryeo history distortion, Minister Chung said, “We plan to strengthen cooperation in various areas such as supporting maintenance and repair costs of the 63 tombs in North Korea that are registered with UNESCO as heritage sites and encourage academic research activities.”

On the question of using the South and North Korea Cooperation Fund to support the preservation of Goguryeo relics in North Korea, Minister Chung responded, “I will positively consider it.”

“I think it is beneficial for both North Korea and the U.S. to reach a basic agreement through the six-party talks before the November U.S. presidential elections,” said Minister Chung, offering his opinion on the six-party talks to solve North Korea’s nuclear problem.

When asked whether there were plans in motion for a South Korea-North Korea summit meeting, Minister Chung responded, “In principle I think there should be a summit meeting, but currently we are not planning any summit meetings.”

Minister Chung was positive regarding the issue of including powdered milk on the list of food sent to North Korea, saying, “I will positively consider sending powdered milk in order to help North Korean infants.”

Min-Hyuk Park mhpark@donga.com