EU to give KEDO another 100 mil. euros

The European Union (EU) will inject an additional 100 million euros (about 108 billion won) into the second light-water nuclear reactor project, to be pursued by the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) over the next five years, diplomatic sources said Wednesday.

According to the sources, Percy Westerlend, a member of the EU Executive Commission in charge of Korean affairs, made the agreement with Desaix Anderson, executive director of KEDO during a meeting in New York.

Westerlend said at the meeting that the EU would turn over 20 million euros each year until 2005. The EU joined the KEDO board of directors in 1997 and has since provided a total of 75 million euros.

With the recent improvement of South-North Korean relations, the EU decided to increase its investment in the organization, but Korea, Japan and the United States, the other KEDO participants, are demanding the EU to make more drastic increases to match their contributions.