Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization

Formation	March 15, 1995; 30 years ago (1995-03-15)
Founders	United States, South Korea, Japan
Location	New York, United States
Fields	Nuclear power

The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) was an organization started on March 15, 1995. The United States, South Korea, and Japan created it. Its main goal was to follow an agreement from 1994. This agreement stopped North Korea from making its own nuclear power plants. These plants were at a place called Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center. People thought North Korea might use them to make nuclear weapons.

KEDO's main job was to build two new nuclear power plants in North Korea. These were called light water reactors. They were meant to replace North Korea's older reactors. The original plan was to finish these new plants by 2003.

Over time, more countries joined KEDO:

• 1995: Australia, Canada, New Zealand
• 1996: Argentina, Chile, Indonesia
• 1997: European Union, Poland
• 1999: Czech Republic
• 2000: Uzbekistan

KEDO's main office was in New York, United States. The organization officially closed down in 2006.

KEDO's Story

KEDO funding per year from 1995 to 2005

The official start of building the two light water reactors was on August 19, 1997. The construction site was at Kumho, about 30 kilometers north of Sinpo. This same site had been chosen before for similar reactors. The Soviet Union had promised these in the 1980s, but that plan fell through.

After the 1994 agreement was signed, the U.S. Congress changed. The Republican Party gained control. Some Republican Senators did not support the agreement. They thought it was too soft on North Korea. Stephen Bosworth, KEDO's first director, said the agreement quickly lost political support.

Getting money for the project was hard. Official requests for bids to build the plants did not go out until 1998. By then, the delays were making North Korea very angry. A lot of money for the project was not spent until 2000. The first concrete was poured at the construction site on August 7, 2002. Both reactors were way behind their original schedule.

In 2003, the original agreement broke down. KEDO then lost its main purpose. KEDO worked to protect the equipment and materials at the construction site in Kumho. They also protected equipment at factories around the world. About $1.5 billion had been invested in the project.

The project was about 30% finished. One reactor building was about half done, and another was about 15% finished. No main equipment for the reactors had been moved to the site.

In 2005, reports said KEDO agreed to end the reactor project. On January 9, 2006, it was announced that the project was over. Workers began returning to their home countries. North Korea asked for money as payment. They also refused to return about $45 million worth of equipment left behind.

KEDO Leaders

• Stephen W. Bosworth, 1995–1997
• L. Desaix Anderson, 1997–2001
• Charles Kartman, 2001–2005

Related Topics

• Division of Korea
• Six-party talks