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1 January 1997

KEDO selects four South Korean companies – Hyundai Engineering & Construction Company, Dong Ah Industrial Company, Daewoo Corporation, and Korea Heavy Industry & Construction Company – to construct the light-water reactors at Sinpo.

Core Issues, No.3, 1997, p.6.

17 March 1997

IAEA Director General Hans Blix says that talks between the IAEA and North Korea over the suspected North Korean nuclear program have stalled.

AFP (Paris), 17 March 1997; in FBIS-TAC-97-076, 17 March 1997.

19 March 1997

US President Bill Clinton certifies that North Korea is cooperating fully in the packing and safe storage of all spent fuel from its 5MW gas-graphite reactor, and that North Korea has not diverted assistance provided by the United States for purposes not intended.

Presidential Determination No. 97-20, The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, 19 March 1997.

28 March 1997

According to a KEDO official, cost conflicts between members are affecting the implementation of light-water reactor project at Sinpo. Whereas KEDO has set up “full-scale preparations such as sending its working-level consultation team for the construction site to North Korea, it is undergoing difficulties as it is unable to pay for the cost of the preliminary project.”

Yonhap (Seoul), 26 March 1997; in BBC Monitoring Service, 28 March 1997, p.2.

13 April 1997

Russian Atomic Energy Minister Viktor Mikhailov says that Russia will participate in KEDO only if the amount of assistance that Russia has given North Korea in the past is counted towards current membership dues. Russia would like to participate in KEDO on an equal footing with Japan and South Korea.

RIA-Novosti (Moscow), 13 April 1997.

14 April 1997

North Korea accuses the United States of attempting to contain it and thus threatens to pull out of the 1994 Agreed Framework.

Wall Street Journal, 14 April 1997, p.1.

15 April 1997

The US state department announces that the United States will donate $15 million worth of corn to North Korea in 1997.

New York Times, 16 April 1997, p.A9.

22 April 1997

North Korean defector Hwang Jang-yop says that North Korea has the ability to turn South Korea into a “sea of flames” with a nuclear attack.

Washington Times, 22 April 1997, p.A10.

26 April 1997

US intelligence agencies doubt the accuracy of North Korean defector Hwang Jang-yop’s claim that North Korea is aggressively preparing for war with South Korea and that it possesses nuclear weapons.

Washington Post, 26 April 1997, p.A19.

May 1997

A 44-member KEDO delegation travels to North Korea to negotiate construction terms for the Sinpo light-water reactor project. The delegation is said to have “virtually” reached agreement on 25 items including mail and telecommunication services, emergency medical procedures, use of North Korean labor and services, and transportation.

Yonhap (Seoul), 6 June 1997; in FBIS-EAS-97-157, 6 June 1997.

1 June 1997

After reviewing the implementation of the IAEA safeguards in 1996 with North Korea, the IAEA Board of Governors reports that it is still unable to verify the initial declaration made by North Korea, and that North Korea still remains in non-compliance of its nuclear safeguards agreement.

Disarmament Diplomacy, June 1997, p.32.

1 June 1997

The US company Duke Engineering & Services is contracted by KEDO to serve as the technical support consultant for the two light-water reactors being constructed at Sinpo.

Nuclear News, June 1997, p.70.

4 June 1997

The Nuclear Assurance Corp., the US contractor in charge of the packing, clean-up, and dismantlement project at North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear facility says that 6,500 of North Korea’s 8,000 nuclear spent fuel rods have been packed for long-term storage. More than 800 rods were “seriously neglected,” complicating the process. The corporation says that the packing and storage cost has increased from $8 million to about $15 million, which will be paid by the United States.

Washington Times, 4 June 1997, p.A20.

5 June 1997

North Korean defector Hwang Jang-yop says that North Korea possesses nuclear weapons and that a planned nuclear test was cancelled under pressure from the North Korean foreign ministry.

Washington Times, 5 June 1997, p.A12.

10 July 1997

In his first major press conference in Tokyo, North Korean defector, Hwang Jang-yop concedes that he does not have proof that North Korea has nuclear weapons. He adds however, that South Korea would be wise to assume that such weapons exist.

New York Times, 11 July 1997.

22 July 1997

Seventeen South Korean workers leave for North Korea to begin construction on the two light-water reactors. Sixty-three additional workers will follow on 26 July 1997.

Reuters, 22 July 1997.

28 July 1997

KEDO opens a liaison office at Sinpo.

Reuters, 28 July 1998.

18 August 1997

South Korea’s Ministry of National Unification announces that 90 percent of North Korea’s 8,000 nuclear spent fuel rods have been properly packed for safe storage, and that the packing operation will be completed by the end of 1997.

NAPSnet Daily Report, <http://www.nautilus.org>, 18 August 1997.

18 August 1997

KEDO breaks ground in Sinpo, marking the start of construction on the first of the two light-water reactors.

Reuters, 19 August 1997.

18 August 1997

Commenting on the start of light-water reactor construction at Sinpo, US state department spokesman James Rubin says that “key [nuclear] components are not going to be delivered until [the United States believes] that North Korea has come into full compliance with the safeguard agreements with the IAEA.”

US Department of State, Office of the Press Secretary, 18 August 1997.

6 October 1997

South Korea’s 1997-1998 defense white paper says that although it is doubtful North Korea has produced deliverable nuclear weapons, it probably has the capacity to “produce one or two crude nuclear weapons.”

Reuters, 6 October 1997.

18 October 1997

According to a source in the Japanese foreign ministry, Japan and South Korea will ask the United States to help fund construction of the light-water reactors at Sinpo.

Tokyo Shimbun (Tokyo), 18 October 1997, p.1; in FBIS-EAS-97-293, 20 October 1997.

23 October 1997

US Ambassador to South Korea Richard Christendon says that the United States will not pay any of the costs associated with building the light-water reactors at Sinpo.

Munhwa Ilbo (Seoul), 24 October 1997, p.2; in FBIS-TAC-97-297, 24 October 1997.

31 October 1997

KEDO’s Executive Council meets in Tokyo to discuss the costs of the light-water reactors; no agreement is reached.

NAPSnet Daily Report, <http://www.nautilus.org>, 18 November 1997.

Acknowledgements:
Brooke Milton and Gaurav Kampani
© Center for Nonproliferation Studies,
Monterey Institute of International Studies

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