ABSTRACT
Cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy between the Soviet Union and North Korea was one element in the overall plan for promoting socialist economic integration in the Far East. Within this cooperative framework, Soviet goals were to raise the standards of North Korea's scientific and technological potential while also promoting the country's industrialization. The two sides based their cooperation on the following principles: (1) its voluntary nature; (2) mutual respect for state sovereignty and noninterference in the internal affairs of the other side; and (3) friendly mutual assistance. This chapter reviews the history of Soviet-North Korean nuclear cooperation focusing on several key elements: the technology provided, the facilities built, and the financial arrangements associated with these deals. It also discusses the collapse of this cooperation, due to financial reasons, in the early 1990s. The information provided here draws on Ministry of Atomic Energy (Minatom) documents and reports not previously available to Western scholars or officials. The chapter concludes with some observations on the current Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) deal and Russia's interests in renewing its place on the peninsula.
