USAID Assists North Korea in Denuclearization
FrontLines: March 2008
Since October 2007, USAID has contracted for the purchase and transportation of 100,000 metric tons of heavy fuel oil to North Korea in support of the Administration’s efforts in the ongoing Six-Party Talks aimed at the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
The fuel is part of a multinational
action-for-action agreement
in which 1 million tons
of heavy fuel oil, or equivalent equipment and materials, is to
be provided to North Korea
in exchange for various steps toward complete denuclearization.
The Six Party participants include China, South Korea, North Korea, Japan, Russia, and the United States. The South Korean Government provided an initial delivery of 50,000 metric tons of heavy fuel oil in July 2007. Since then, China, the United States, and Russia have each followed with fuel oil shipments. China and South Korea have also provided equipment and materials to refurbish North Korea’s hydro and thermal power plants.
Denise Scherl and Anthony Fisher of USAID’s Office of Acquisition and Assistance worked with the State Department and other U.S. government offices in purchasing and transporting
the U.S. deliveries. Scherl is the Transportation Division chief and was the contracting officer for all commodity purchase and tanker charter contracts. Her office arranged for initial deliveries totaling 46,000 tons of heavy fuel oil to North Korea in October and November of 2007. This cargo was loaded onto two vessels in the ports of Yosu, South Korea, and Pasir Gudang, Malaysia, and delivered to the North Korean ports of Songrim and Sonbong. Fisher, a former mariner himself, sailed to North Korea onboard the first vessel as a representative of the U.S. government and in order to ensure the success of the initial delivery.
On Feb. 14, the USAID Transportation Division contracted
for a second fuel shipment
of 54,000 metric tons
for delivery in early March to North Korea. Two oil tankers were chartered to carry this cargo from Pasir Gudang to Songrim and Sonbong.
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