Prometheus 6

N. Korea hasn't received promised oil, U.S. official says
Kevin G. Hall | McClatchy Newspapers
last updated: February 06, 2008 08:05:01 PM

WASHINGTON — North Korea has slowed the dismantling of its nuclear reactor because it hasn't received the amount of fuel oil it was promised, State Department envoy Christopher Hill said Wednesday.

Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Hill confirmed that North Korea's delay in dismantling the Yongbyon nuclear plant was in response to what it perceives as slow delivery of the oil. North Korea has gone from three shifts day at the reactor site to a single shift.

"There is a perception among the North Koreans that they have moved faster on disablement than we have on fuel oil," said Hill, the assistant secretary of state who's leading six-nation talks aimed at denuclearizing North Korea.

North Korea, he said, has received about 20 percent of the 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil that it was promised in exchange for disabling the reactor. The shipments were to move in tandem with the disabling of the plant.

Hill blamed the slow oil delivery on logistical problems. He said North Korea's ports could handle only the delivery of 50,000 tons of fuel oil at a time. Russia has been unable to deliver its own fuel oil to North Korea and instead purchased and sent a shipment from Singapore, Hill said.