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N Korea proves self-reliance with electricity exports to China
Beijing, Nov 25: Energy-starved North Korea has exported a small amount of surplus electricity to China, revealing today self-reliance in the Stalinist nation despite the United States cutting off some 30 percent of its energy supplies.
Beijing, Nov 25: Energy-starved North Korea has exported a small amount of surplus electricity to China, revealing today self-reliance in the Stalinist nation despite
the United States cutting off some 30 percent of its energy supplies.
According to the Xinhua news agency, North Korea exported 19.9 million kilowatt hours of electricity to China's northeastern border city of Dandong in the first 10 months of the year, 143 per cent more than the same period in 2002.
"The sharp increase was attributed to the stable power supply by the DPRK (North Korea), which is helpful for the normal operation of Chinese factories," Xinhua said. The ability to export excess electricity comes despite the United States moving to suspend shipments of heavy fuel oil last November after it asserted that Pyongyang violated a 1994 agreement when it restarted a covert nuclear weapons program.
The annual shipments of 500,000 tons of fuel oil made up some 30 per cent of the hermit country's energy needs, western diplomats and aid workers have said.
China has been North Korea's major benefactor, supplying both coal and fuel for energy as well as millions of tonnes of food aid since economic hardship and famine struck the nation following the collapse of the former Soviet Union. In an apparent sign that state-to-state barter trade was picking up, Xinhua also reported that China had seen its grain exports to North Korea grow to 66,255 tons in the first 10 months of the year, up 52 per cent from last year.
Bureau Report
"The sharp increase was attributed to the stable power supply by the DPRK (North Korea), which is helpful for the normal operation of Chinese factories," Xinhua said. The ability to export excess electricity comes despite the United States moving to suspend shipments of heavy fuel oil last November after it asserted that Pyongyang violated a 1994 agreement when it restarted a covert nuclear weapons program.
The annual shipments of 500,000 tons of fuel oil made up some 30 per cent of the hermit country's energy needs, western diplomats and aid workers have said.
China has been North Korea's major benefactor, supplying both coal and fuel for energy as well as millions of tonnes of food aid since economic hardship and famine struck the nation following the collapse of the former Soviet Union. In an apparent sign that state-to-state barter trade was picking up, Xinhua also reported that China had seen its grain exports to North Korea grow to 66,255 tons in the first 10 months of the year, up 52 per cent from last year.
Bureau Report