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THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE ACCOUNTABILITY OF AMERICAN BASES (CAAB) |
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THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE ACCOUNTABILITY OF AMERICAN BASES (CAAB) |
"The US has a legal obligation to compensate for the loss of electricity it caused to the DPRK by deliberately delaying and completely suspending the construction of light water reactors," the official KCNA new agency reported, quoting the North Korean newspaper Rodong Sinmun.
The Korean Peninsular Energy Development Organisation (KEDO) announced a week earlier it would suspend construction of two reactors after judging North Korea had failed to meet necessary conditions to continue the project. KEDO suspended work from December 1.
North Korea considers that the two reactors, built in exchange for a promise from Pyongyang not to build nuclear weapons, should have been completed in the year 2000 and that the United States is responsible for the delay.
"It should pay penalty, i.e. damages, incurred by its non-compliance with its commitment to provide the LWR (Light water reactors)", said the Rodong Sinmun, adding that the North Korean government "is determined to certainly force the US to compensate for all financial and material losses it caused."
The decision by the American and other members of the KEDO "is a measure of open distrust against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and deals a brutal blow to the negotiated framework of relations between the DPRK and the United States", the paper added, this time quoted by the Chinese Xinhua News Agency.
Pyongyang's latest salvo comes amid intense international negotiations to prepare for the next round of six-way talks on the stand-off over North Korea's nuclear program, which are still widely expected to be held in Beijing in December.
The suspension "deserves serious attention as it came at a time when the six-party talks are high on the agenda", according to the North Korean newspaper commentary.
The first round of talks between North Korea, the United States, Japan, South Korea, Russia and China broke down in August with Pyongyang dismissing them as "useless".
KEDO suspended its multi-billion dollar plan to build 1,000 megawatt light water nuclear reactors for North Korea, deemed less suitable for weapons grade plutonium production, as groundwork was being laid for the new round of nuclear negotiations.
The reactors were part of a 1994 anti-nuclear deal between Washington and Pyongyang.
The United States considers the deal, known as the Agreed Framework, ruptured after accusing Pyongyang last year of launching a prohibited program to enrich uranium for weapons production.
Since then Pyongyang has thrown out international inspectors, unfrozen its Yongbyon nuclear plant and pulled out of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty.
In recent weeks, the United States and North Korea have remained at loggerheads with North Korea offering earlier this month to give up its nuclear program if Washington dropped its "hostile" attitude to the communist state.
Two days later, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called the North Korean regime "evil", sparking a North Korean retort that Rumsfeld "put Hitler in the shade."
Against this background, other countries are trying to piece together a solution to the nuclear crisis.
China, a staunch ally of Pyongyang which is also in favour of North Korean nuclear disarmament, is seeking to broker a compromise.
"A negotiated solution is the only way but it is a very complicated procedure", Chinese foreign ministry spokeman said earlier this week.