N. Korea blames U.S. for serious power shortage

Asian Economic News, Feb 28, 2000

BEIJING, Feb. 23 Kyodo

North Korea on Wednesday reported a serious power shortage in the country and condemned the United States for being "wholly responsible for all the difficulties."

"Never before in the history of (North) Korea has there been such power shortages as today," said a (North) Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) report monitored in Beijing.

The report said the power shortage has caused a "serious hindrance not only to production and construction but to the normal operation of major related processes. Regular railway transport, heating and lighting as well as agriculture are seriously affected."

KCNA said the power shortage was caused by the failure of the U.S. to implement provisions of a bilateral agreement under which the U.S. promised to build two light-water nuclear reactors.

"Lifting economic sanctions against North Korea was of its promises," it added.

The 1994 accord between Pyongyang and Washington commits North Korea to freezing and eventually dismantling its weapons-grade nuclear facilities in exchange for the two reactors and supplies of fuel oil until one of the reactors begins operating.

An international consortium was established to provide North Korea with the reactors, but the start of construction work was long-delayed.

The consortium, the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO), began full-fledged construction Feb. 3 this year.

"The construction will probably not be finished even by 2010, though the initial plan called for completion by 2003. Its economic sanctions have not been totally lifted," KCNA said.

It said the country's freezing of its nuclear-power program has brought an enormous loss for which the U.S. "can hardly compensate with its heavy oil." The loss in the field of direct production has already amounted to tens of billions of dollars.

The estimated cost of the project is $4.6 billion. South Korea is slated to contribute $3.2 billion, Japan $1 billion, the U.S. $115 million and the European Union $80 million.

The KCNA report also noted that serious natural disasters in recent years contributed to the acute shortage of electricity.