North Korean Nuclear Power Plant Development Shelved

As expected, the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization has suspended — and effectively killed — a project to build two nuclear reactors in North Korea, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, Nov. 4).

The organization announced that “the executive board decided to refer this to the capitals,” but officials who were present at the meeting said the suspension decision has been made. The United States has indicated that it would not allow the suspension to be lifted and the U.S. State Department said yesterday that it wants to program terminated.

“Our view is that we want an end to the program,” said State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli.

The suspension marks the end of the 1994 U.S.-North Korean Agreed Framework, which was brokered by U.S. officials to defuse a nuclear crisis similar to the one facing Northeast Asia today, the Times reported (David Sanger, New York Times, Nov. 5).

Despite the KEDO decision, North Korea would probably not pull out of multilateral nuclear negotiations, according to analysts.

“North Korea, which may have foreseen it, is unlikely to break its commitment to participating in the second round of six-nation talks. It would instead use it as a good bargaining chip at the talks,” said Chon Hyun-joon, a North Korea expert at the Korea Institute of National Unification.

North Korea has previously accused Washington of delaying the project and Pyongyang has demanded compensation for the schedule slips (Jun Kwanwoo, Agence France-Presse, Nov. 5).

Meanwhile, Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons development might not be as advanced as intelligence experts had feared, USA Today reported today.

A U.S. intelligence official said the CIA is “not even certain” there is a uranium enrichment plant in North Korea. Pyongyang might have exaggerated its capability as part of “bluff and bluster to extract concessions from the United States,” the official added.

Outside experts agreed.

“Whatever they are doing appears constrained,” said David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security.

Senator Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) said that if accurate, he “would find this report encouraging” (Slavin/Diamond, USA Today, Nov. 5).

Back to top
About Newswire  |  Contact National Journal  |  Re-Use Guidelines © Copyright 2008 by National Journal Group, Inc. The material in this section is produced independently for NTI by National Journal Group, Inc. Any reproduction or retransmission, in whole or in part, is a violation of federal law and is strictly prohibited without the consent of the National Journal Group, Inc. All rights reserved.