Ten North Korea officials in South for nuclear project
Date: 21-May-02
Country: SOUTH KOREA
The proposed air route between the Koreas - which have no telephone or travel links across their heavy militarised Cold War border - would be limited to serving a nuclear reactor project in North Korea being run by an international consortium.
The consortium, the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organisation (KEDO), is building two nuclear reactors in southeastern North Korea at a cost of more than $4.0 billion under a 1994 pact negotiated by the United States which froze the North's suspected nuclear weapons programme.
The visit of the 10 North Koreans under KEDO auspices comes as official North-South Korean ties are stalemated despite signs of a breakthrough last month.
After two sets of reunions of families divided since the 1950-53 Korean War, North Korea unilaterally cancelled inter-Korean economic talks set to be held in Seoul from May 7.
Repeating a pattern it followed for much of 2001, North Korea agreed to restart talks, prompting the South to send fertiliser aid. But the North then cancelled the talks, blaming what it said were pro-U.S. remarks by South Korea's foreign minister.
The United States is also awaiting word from North Korea on restarting talks after Pyongyang said in April it was ready to receive a visit by Jack Pritchard, U.S. envoy for negotiations with the North.
The North Korean technicians arrived in South Korea on Sunday and will stay until May 24, visiting nuclear power plants and airports in the second such visit by North officials following a training tour by 19 nuclear experts at the end of last year.
A proposed air link would be used to fly KEDO personnel and equipment from Yangyang or another city on South Korea's eastern coast to an airport up the coast in North Korea near the nuclear project site at Kumho.