The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) says it will extend for another year an ongoing suspension of its project to build two nuclear reactors in North Korea.

KEDO Spokesman Brian Kremer said in an interview with Radio Free Asia Tuesday the organization made the decision in order to allow six-party talks more time to resolve a dispute over North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

Kremer said KEDO, comprised of the United States, the European Union, South Korea and Japan, is preserving the construction site of the reactors so that work can be swiftly resumed if the dispute is resolved. The spokesman also said production of key parts needed for the reactors will continue outside the communist country.

The plan to build two 1,000-megawatt light water nuclear reactors, deemed less suitable for weapons-grade plutonium production, arose from a 1994 agreed framework between Washington and Pyongyang.

But the deal unravelled after U.S. accused Pyongyang in 2002 of launching a prohibited program to enrich uranium for weapons production. KEDO declared a suspension of the project late last year, citing tensions over the nuclear issue.