Seoul, Sep 21, 2005 -- BBC Monitoring

 

South Korea is expected to fork out 650bn won (US$632m) to 800bn won a year for its promise of electricity aid to energy-starved North Korea, a government report estimated Wednesday [21 September].

Seoul has offered to supply 2m kiloW of power to the communist country per year in return for the North abandoning its nuclear weapons ambitions. According to the report to the National Assembly, the estimate takes into account only the cost of generating electricity and sending it to North Korea. "The exact cost is impossible to determine at this juncture since this depends on future North Korean demand for electricity," it said. According to the report, it will cost between 1.55 trillion won and 1.72 trillion won to build the necessary power cables and substations to send electricity to North Korea. Initial funds will be taken from the 2.4bn dollars earmarked to build light-water reactors in Shinpo in North Korea, which have now been suspended. Remaining funds will come from the government budget.

Source: Yonhap news agency, Seoul, in English 0744 gmt 21 Sep 05

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