TOKYO, DECEMBER 13: Officials from the United States, South Korea, Japan and the European Union gathered here today to discuss the construction of a nuclear power plant in North Korea, a Japanese official said.The executive board members of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organisation (Kedo) were holding a one-day meeting, but no details were immediately available.Kedo was set up to provide Pyongyang with two light-water nuclear reactors and consignments of heavy fuel oil for heating and electricity under a 1994 agreement between Pyongyang and Washington.In exchange for the reactors and fuel, North Korea agreed to freeze its own nuclear power program which produced plutonium capable of being used in weapons.Kedo announced in October in New York that it was ready to begin the 4.6-billion-dollar project, following Pyongyang's decision to freeze its nuclear missile program in exchange for an easing of sanctions.South Korea is scheduled to contribute 3.2 billion dollars, Japan one billion dollars, the US 115 million dollars, and the EU 80 million dollars. The rest is to be raised by other Kedo member nations."A key issue of the meeting is a contract to start building a light-water power reactor in North Korea," the Japanese official said.Also high on the agenda for the talks is a deal between Kedo and South Korea's Electric Power Corp (Kepco), the main contractor for the nuclear project, Japanese foreign minister Yohei Kono said last week.
