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Nuclear Weapons & Proliferation
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April 13, 1998
Taiwan-North Korea: Diplomatic Pressure Killed
DPRK Waste Deal, Taiwan Says The deal, struck between Taiwan Electric Power Co (Taipower) and the DPRK in 1996, called for Taipower to export up to 60,000 drums of solidified waste for disposal. Officially, the plan is still under review by Taiwan's nuclear regulatory body, the Atomic Energy Council (AEC). The Taiwan AEC denied in late March the deal had come under pressure from the Taiwan government or from foreign countries. But according to Taipower officials, the U.S. government, in a so-called "non-paper," an expression of U.S. objections not printed on an official letterhead of the Department of State, complained of the deal to Taiwan. In addition, they said, South Korea warned Taiwan that its relations with the island would be downgraded if Taiwan went ahead and exported the waste to the DPRK. The export of the waste would have been acceptable to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which declined to take a position on the matter. According to Taiwan officials, the U.S. weighed in against the export in the interest of micromanaging its relationship with the two Koreas. Because Washington wants to keep South Korea committed to a plan to export nuclear reactors to the DPRK in exchange for a pledge from the DPRK not to build nuclear weapons, these officials charge, the U.S. is fully supporting South Korea's objections that Taiwanese payments would help sustain the DPRK regime and leave a legacy of foreign nuclear waste on Korean territory when South Korea eventually takes over control of the entire Korean peninsula. South Korea: Leading Nuclear Firm Emerging
from Financial Crisis Financial and banking sources in Seoul reported that Kepco has quietly floated a private bond issue bringing in $250 million to ease cashflow problems which erupted last fall when the Korean won plunged to half its worth against the U.S. dollar. The crisis had made it extremely difficult for Kepco to service its $9 billion debt. In addition, Kepco has told companies in the U.S. and Canada, which are now building power reactors in Korea, that it will suspend payments on current projects until next year, providing more financial breathing space. Lastly, regardless of anticipation that recently inaugurated South Korean president Kim Dae Jung would interfere, Kepco pushed through a 9% electricity rate increase. According to analysts from Standard & Poors in Tokyo, Kepco will trim planned capital investment expenditure this year by 30%. This likely means that Kepco's involvement in the plan to build reactors in the north, which thus far has consumed few of the company's resources, will remain modest, although Kepco will continue to act as a main proponent of the project. With the economic crisis prohibiting South Korea from contributing heavily to the effort, it appears that leaders in both Koreas increasingly believe that the reactor project in North Korea won't make real headway until the U.S. agrees to financially support reactor construction--which thus far the U.S., heedful of Congressional opposition, refuses to do. Nuclear Watch is written exclusively for Global Beat by Mark Hibbs, the European Editor of Nucleonics Week and Nuclear Fuel, leading specialist newsletters on international nuclear affairs, published by McGraw-Hill, Inc. Hibbs, based in Bonn, Germany, covers nuclear energy and proliferation problems in Europe, the former Soviet Union, and Asia. Mark Hibbs' coordinates: Return to Global Beat Home Page Nuclear Watch | East Asian Security | Economic & Monetary Union | NATO Expansion | Nuclear Weapons and Proliferation | U.S. Defense Policy | Publications | Events | |
