North Korea has filed a transnational lawsuit against Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電), accusing the state-owned utility of failing to honor a contract to deliver nuclear waste for disposal in the communist state, a local magazine reported.
The Chinese-language TVBS Weekly said in its latest issue yesterday that Taipower and the Pyongyang government signed a contract in 1996 that North Korea would take in the company’s nuclear waste.
However, because of international pressure — especially from the South Korean and US governments — Taipower called for a temporary suspension of the agreement in 1998, but later signed a new US$8.72 million deal with the North Korean government to extend the contract by five years, the report said.
Photo: EPA
Under the new deal, North Korea would continue investing and constructing nuclear waste disposal sites. However, since Taipower has not followed up on the deal, Pyongyang filed a transnational lawsuit against Taipower and asked for NT$300 million (US$10.1 million) in compensation, the report said.
Taipower issued a statement last night saying it did sign a contract with the North Korean government in 1997, promising to deliver low-level radioactive waste to the country for final management.
However, the two parties ran into difficulties that prevented them from carrying out the terms of the contract, Taipower said.
Taipower said that as of yesterday, it had not received any document stating that Pyongyang was seeking compensation for breach of contract.
The state utility said it was planning to deliver 60,000 barrels of low-level radioactive waste to a then-existing and still operating disposal site in North Korea, as promised in the contract signed on Jan. 11, 1997.
After the contract was signed, North Korea issued a permit allowing Taipower to export nuclear waste to the country.
However, North Korea failed to meet Taiwan’s Atomic Energy Council’s request that it follow the Taiwanese government’s rule of “finishing construction first prior to a site evaluation.”
Taipower also failed to obtain a permit from the AEC to export nuclear waste overseas.
Taipower added that the North Korean government had once sought mediation in 2004 from the AEC, but the two sides failed to reach a consensus.
The company said it did not wire any payment to the North Korean government because the contract never went into effect and had become invalid.
GEARING UP: An invasion would be difficult and would strain China’s forces, but it has conducted large-scale training supporting an invasion scenario, the report said China increased its military pressure on Taiwan last year and took other steps in preparation for a potential invasion, an annual report published by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday showed. “Throughout 2023, Beijing continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics against Taiwan,” the report said, which is titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2024.” The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the PRC by force, if perceived as necessary by Beijing, while simultaneously deterring, delaying or denying
PEACEFUL RESOLUTION: A statement issued following a meeting between Australia and Britain reiterated support for Taiwan and opposition to change in the Taiwan Strait Canada should support the peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s destiny according to the will of Taiwanese, Canadian lawmakers said in a resolution marking the second anniversary of that nation’s Indo-Pacific strategy on Monday. The Canadian House of Commons committee on Canada-Chinese relations made the comment as part of 34 recommendations for the new edition of the strategy, adding that Ottawa should back Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, first published in October 2022, emphasized that the region’s security, trade, human rights, democracy and environmental protection would play a crucial role in shaping Canada’s future. The strategy called for Canada to deepen
TECH CONFERENCE: Input from industry and academic experts can contribute to future policymaking across government agencies, President William Lai said Multifunctional service robots could be the next new area in which Taiwan could play a significant role, given its strengths in chip manufacturing and software design, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman and chief executive C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. “In the past two months, our customers shared a lot of their future plans with me. Artificial intelligence [AI] and AI applications were the most talked about subjects in our conversation,” Wei said in a speech at the National Science and Technology Conference in Taipei. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, counts Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Apple Inc and
LEAP FORWARD: The new tanks are ‘decades more advanced than’ the army’s current fleet and would enable it to compete with China’s tanks, a source said A shipment of 38 US-made M1A2T Abrams tanks — part of a military procurement package from the US — arrived at the Port of Taipei early yesterday. The vehicles are the first batch of 108 tanks and other items that then-US president Donald Trump announced for Taiwan in 2019. The Ministry of National Defense at the time allocated NT$40.5 billion (US$1.25 billion) for the purchase. To accommodate the arrival of the tanks, the port suspended the use of all terminals and storage area machinery from 6pm last night until 7am this morning. The tanks are expected to be deployed at the army’s training
RSS