The Unification Ministry says the suspension of the lightwater reactor project in North Korea has cost KEDO members an estimated 58 million dollars.

According to the ministry's report to the National Assembly Monday, South Korea will have to shoulder 70 percent of the extra costs, Japan 22 percent and the European Union and other board members of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization the remainder.

The losses were caused by unused equipment and manpower and Pyongyang's ban on shipping them out of the reactor construction site following the project's suspension last December.

Uri Party lawmaker Chang Young-dal said South Korea must discuss the matter with members of the KEDO Board of Directors and Pyongyang and seek ways to re-route the idle equipment for use in the construction of the Gaesong Industrial Complex in the North.