SEOUL, July 12 (Xinhuanet) -- South Korea is willing to provide electricity aid directly to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) if the latter agrees to drop its nuclear program, said South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young on Tuesday.

    In a televised press conference held on late Tuesday afternoon,Chung unveiled the main contents of the so-called "important proposal" that South Korea made to the DPRK at an inter-Korean vice-ministerial talks held in late May in an effort to help resolve the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula.

    Chung said if the DPRK agrees to dismantle its nuclear program,South Korea is willing to "provide 2 million kilowatt of electricity annually" to the DPRK by building inter-Korean borderpower line.

    Coincidentally with the resolution of the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula, South Korea will complete construction of the power line "in three years."

    Chung told reporters he already explained the proposal to the DPRK's top leader Kim Jong Il when they met in Pyongyang in mid-June.

    Local media also reported the US side gave positive reaction when Chung was in Washington to brief the US leadership of his meeting with Kim and the "important proposal" in early July.

    In exchange for the power provision, the proposal calls for ending a suspended project to build two light-water reactors in the DPRK, Chung said.

    Under a 1994 agreement with the United States, the DPRK was promised two light-water reactors in return for freezing its nuclear facilities. The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO), a US-led consortium, had worked toward implementing the 4.6 billion-US-dollar project before suspending it in 2003 amid a tension over the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula.

    As a member of the KEDO, South Korea has invested 1.12 billion dollars into the suspended light reactor project.

    "In case of the resumption of the light reactor project, it needs South Korea to spend an additional 2.4 billion dollars. The cost for our direct power supply plan will be less than that," Chung explained.

    However, the South Korean proposal also raised concern that it will lead to shortage of power in South Korea. The envisioned supply is to reduce the peak-season power reserve rate of South Korea from the current 12 percent, or 6.67 million kilowatts, to around 8 percent.

    Chung dismissed such concerns, insisting that the dedication ofadditional atomic power plants in South Korea in the coming years would help the nation maintain its current power reserve rate beyond 2008.

    "As soon as the upcoming six-party talks in Beijing produce an agreement on the North (DPRK)'s dismantlement of its nuclear programs, South Korea will start construction of cross-border power line linking Gyeonggi Province's Yangju and the North Korean(DPRK) capital Pyongyang," Chung further explained.

    Chung stressed that the timing for beginning of the power supply will be strictly linked to the DPRK's implementation of thenuclear dismantlement.

    He estimated that the 200-kilometer-long power supply line between Yangju and Pyongyang would cost about 500 billion won (485million dollars), with an additional 1 trillion won (961.5 milliondollars) to be needed for the construction of power transformer facilities.

    The South Korean minister also said there should be progress inthe fourth round of six-party talks.

    In a meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) held earlier Tuesday which was presided over by South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, participants agreed to disclose the content of the "important proposal," as the DPRK had already agreed to rejoin the six-party nuclear talks in the last week of July.

    The recent nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula erupted in October 2002. In order to peacefully solve the nuclear issue, China, the DPRK, the United States, Russia, South Korea and Japan have convened three rounds of six-party nuclear talks in Beijing.

    However, the fourth round of the multilateral talks failed to be convened as the DPRK refused to attend the talks, citing US hostile policy.

    The DPRK announced it would suspend participation in the six-party nuclear talks indefinitely in February.

    A recent remark made by the DPRK's top leader Kim Jong Il that "the DPRK is willing to rejoin the six-party talks even in July, if the US respects and recognizes it" brightened the outlook of the multilateral talks. Enditem