Consortium halts North Korean reactor project
U.S.: North not living up to treaty obligations
From Elise Labott
CNN
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NEW YORK (CNN) -- The international consortium charged with building a certain type of nuclear reactor in North Korea said Friday that it will suspend the project for a year.
The announcement was made in a statement issued Friday by the executive board of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization, consisting of the United States, Japan, South Korea and the European Union.
The group has suspended the construction of light water reactors, which control the nuclear reaction with water that hasn't been heated. Other types of reactors use boiling or pressurized water.
The reactors were to be built by the United States under a pact in which North Korea agreed to halt its nuclear program.
The United States has been pushing for the work to stop, saying North Korea has not lived up to its obligations under the 1994 Agreed Framework.
Under that treaty, North Korea agreed to freeze and ultimately dismantle its nuclear program. In return, the United States would finance and build two light water reactors and deliver heavy fuel oil until one of the reactors was completed.
In the past, the United States wanted to cancel the project. In recent months, however, it agreed to a one-year suspension, with unanimous decision by KEDO's board required to resume it.
Discussions have been going on for months regarding the future of the light water reactor projects -- currently about 30 percent complete.
The statement issued Friday by KEDO said the suspension process "will require preservation and maintenance both on-site and off-site. KEDO continues to consult with (North Korea) in this process."
Earlier this month, KEDO postponed a decision on whether to suspend the project.
The United States and North Korea have been involved in a continuing dispute regarding North Korea's nuclear program.
The United States has demanded it be dismantled immediately, but North Korea has said it would do so only if Washington formally agreed not to attack the North and resumed the humanitarian aid needed for North Korea's starving population.
North Korea has said it is prepared to hold a second round of six-party talks to discuss the impasse, but no date has been set.
The first round of talks were held in Beijing in August and included North Korea, the United States, China, Japan, South Korea and Russia.
