Disarmament Diplomacy
Issue No. 13, February - March 1997
US-North Korea Framework Agreement:
Threats and Distractions Kept at Bay
Implementation inches nearer
Steady, if slow, progress seems to be being made towards the
replacement of North Korea's inoperative nuclear reactors with two
light-water reactors (LWR), to be constructed at an estimated
overall cost of $4.5 billion near the northeast coastal town of
Sinpo. The project - agreed as part of an October 1994 Framework
Agreement between the US and North Korea - is the responsibility of
the Korean Peninsular Energy Development Corporation (KEDO), based
in New York and dominated by officials from the US, Japan and South
Korea.
On 11 February, it was announced that KEDO would be sending a
30-member survey team to North Korea. According to a South Korean
Foreign Ministry official: "The seventh site survey team will be
deployed in North Korea on 22 February... The surveyors [will] stay
for a maximum of five months."
On 21 February, it was announced that the visit had been put
back until 1 March. The delay was reportedly advised on security
grounds, following the defection to South Korea of a senior North
Korean official, Hwang Jang Yop.
North Korea-Taiwan agree nuclear waste deal
On 11 January, North Korea signed an agreement with the Taiwan
Power Corporation (Taipower) to store nuclear waste from Taiwanese
reactors. According to varying reports, the $75 million deal will
lead to the shipment of between 60,000-200,000 barrels of waste to
North Korea over a two year period.
The deal caused an immediate international outcry. Naturally,
especial concern was voiced in South Korea. On 3 February, Deputy
Foreign Minister Song Young-Shik warned of the possible detrimental
impact on KEDO's reactor-replacement plans:
"If a large amount of nuclear waste is allowed in the Korean
peninsular...we are worried that this will have a negative impact
when we seek public support and parliamentary approval for the huge
project cost... The South Korean people are paying for the reactors
and the National Assembly must consent all funds towards them...
The Taiwanese side has a dangerous perception that if it pays
enough money it can export whatever amount of nuclear waste to a
third country without any due consideration of the moral,
humanitarian and environmental aspects of the matter... I hope the
situation will not be pushed to the extreme."
However, Song was at pains to dispel fears that South Korea was
about to pull out of the KEDO project, although he did not rule out
such a drastic course of action:
"There is no change yet in our position that the reactor project
should proceed... The two should be solved quietly...and
diplomatically between South Korea and Taiwan. ... Right now, we
have no intention to link the waste deal to the 1994 accord..."
On 13 February, a member of South Korea's National Assembly, Suh
Sang-Mok, claimed that Song was right to predict a strongly
negative public and parliamentary response: "If this kind of deal
goes through. it will create very bad public opinion...which will
put the National Assembly in a very difficult position to approve
the government request for finance."
On 30 January, Shen Guofang, a spokesperson for China's Foreign
Ministry, said that "China's government and people express their
resolute opposition" to the deal. Shen added:
"The technological demands of nuclear waste management are very
serious... If it is not managed properly, or unexpected events
occur, it can pollute surrounding countries and regions. The
Chinese side is highly concerned about this..."
On 5 February, South Korea asked the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) to help monitor and assess the adequacy of the
arrangements being made by North Korea and Taiwan for shipping and
storing the waste. According to a Foreign Ministry spokesperson:
"South Korea and the IAEA need to discuss closely what they could
do to thwart Taiwan's bid to export nuclear waste to North Korea
from legal and moral standpoints." On 24 February, it was reported
that the IAEA had told the Vice President of Taipower, Tsai
Mao-Tsun, that it did not intend to become involved. However, the
same day it was also reported that the US - which has expressed
itself uneasy about the deal -had asked the Agency to report on the
situation. According to Secretary of State Albright: "We are going
to be pressing them [Taiwan and North Korea] to do in fact
everything they can to make sure that all environmental safeguards
are met."
Reports: Protests won't stop N. Korea nuclear deal -
Taiwan, Reuter News Reports, 20 January; Taiwan-S. Korea
nuclear waste row escalates, Reuter News Reports, 30 January;
China slams Taiwan's North Korea nuclear plan, Reuter News
Reports, 30 January; Waste could harm nuclear project in N.
Korea - Seoul, Reuter News Reports, 3 February; South Korea
backs down from threat to leave nuclear deal, Agence
France-Presse International News, 3 February; Nuclear reactor
survey mission to North Korea for 23 February - report, Agence
France-Presse International News, 7 February; S. Koreans lobby
against Taiwan-N. Korea nuclear deal, Reuter News Reports, 13
February; Nuclear team trip to N. Korea delayed 1 week,
Kyodo News Service, 21 February; IAEA not to interfere in
Taiwan's nuclear shipments to North Korea, Agence France-Presse
International News, 24 February.
© 1998 The Acronym Institute.
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