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August 9, 1976

Memorandum, Branch Office of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Trade in Pyongyang to the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Trade

Comrade Gnidenko [the Soviet Deputy Commercial Counselor] gave the following information:


1.) Preliminary information about the 13th session of the Intergovernmental Consultative Commission:


The 13th session of the Commission was held 8-11 June 1976 in Moscow. The minutes of the session were signed by Deputy Premiers I.T. Novikov on the Soviet side and Gong Jin-tae [Kong Jin Thae] on the Korean side.


At the session the Korean side attempted to evade the questions related to foreign trade, for that was a thorny issue for it. However, the Soviet side […] managed to ensure that due stress was laid at this session of the Commission on the discussion of the commercial relations between the two countries.


Soviet Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade Grishin, as well as the sectoral ministers, who made speeches at the session, raised the issue that in 1976 Korean shipments had substantially decreased in comparison with the same period of earlier years; the [DPRK’s] failure to deliver the raw materials that were planned to be imported from Korea caused stoppages in the operation of important Soviet industrial plants, seriously jeopardizing the continuity of production.


In response to the raising of these questions by the Soviets, the Korean side made promises to make up for its under-fulfillments in the second half of the year […] The Korean side stated its demand for a nuclear power plant […].


The Soviet side declared that it was unable to deliver a nuclear power plant in the near future, for its production capacity was already being utilized to fulfill other demands on which a decision had been taken earlier.
[…]


The situation that has developed [in the DPRK] prompted the Branch Office of the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Trade in Pyongyang to make more thorough inquiries. […]


– The scantiness of rainfall [in 1975 and 1976] produced a substantial effect on the production of electrical energy (in the estimation of the Soviets, hydroelectric power plants constitute 50% of the present power generation capacity), that is, there was no way to utilize the capacity of the hydroelectric power stations, and they could not generate as much energy as planned.


[…]


István Suhajda
Commercial Counselor

 

Memorandum from 1976 Intergovernmental Consultative Commission, in which Korea's inability to maintain levels of trade in raw materials has negatively affected Soviet production. North Korea again asks for a nuclear power plant.

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Document Information

Source

MOL, XIX-J-1-j Korea, 1976, 82. doboz, 5, 00170/7/1976. Obtained and translated for NKIDP by Balazs Szalontai

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Original Uploaded Date

2011-11-20

Type

Memorandum

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Record ID

111476