Bush asks Congress for $106 million for North Korean aid

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
President George W. Bush is asking US lawmakers for $106 million (€74.8 million) for fuel oil or comparable assistance to North Korea as a reward for Pyongyang following through on promises to scrap its nuclear weapons program. The request to Congress is needed to fulfill US pledges in a six-nation North Korean disarmament accord. The energy-starved North is to get energy or other aid equivalent to 950,000 tons of heavy fuel oil for declaring all its nuclear programs and disabling its facilities, a step the North has promised to complete by the end of this year. The parties to the talks are North Korea, the United States, Russia, China, South Korea and Japan.