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DPRK Condemns U.S. for Delaying Nuclear Reactors Construction
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) condemned the United States for its delay in the construction of two light water reactors (LWR) that should be delivered to the DPRK by 2003, according to a newspaper editorial on Tuesday.
Under a framework agreement reached on October 21, 1994, the United States is committed to building two light water reactors, each with a capacity of 1 million kilowatts, and delivering them to the DPRK by the year 2003.
However, nearly seven years have passed since the adoption of the agreement, the LWR construction, its main provision, has made no progress due to the insincerity and obstruction of the United States, said the editorial published in the official newspaper Rodong Sinmun.
It is none other than the United States that is mainly responsible for non-compliance with the DPRK-U.S. agreed framework, said the newspaper.
The deliberate procrastination on the part of the United States over the LWR construction is aimed at hindering the DPRK's independent development of its nuclear power industry and weakening its economic and military potentials, thus stifling the DPRK by force, said the newspaper.
The DPRK cannot but make a special mention of the urgent need to compensate for the loss of electricity caused by the U.S. intentional delaying tactics. It has every right to claim compensation from the United States and will exercise it to the last, it added.
However, the newspaper stressed that there is no change in the DPRK's stand to sincerely implement the agreed framework.
The newspaper also criticized Mohamed Baradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), for his remarks to shift the responsibility for the delayed construction of the two reactors onto the DPRK. It said the principles the IAEA should follow in its work are neutrality and impartiality and it described the remarks made by Baradei as "falsifying facts to favor the hostile policy of the Bush administration toward the DPRK" and as "shameless enough" to cripple the authority of the IAEA and people's faith in it.
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