Executive Director of the Korea Energy Development Organization (KEDO), Charles Kartman, says it would be desirable to keep the international consortium in place even if its main mission to build two light water reactors in North Korea ultimately falls through.

In an interview with Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper Saturday, Kartman said even if the light water reactor project is terminated, KEDO could play a vital role in providing energy aid to the impoverished North.

Kartman added that a new organization could be established to come up with energy aid to Pyongyang, but quickly stressed that KEDO can prove to be highly useful since it has nearly 10 years of experience in dealing with the communist state.

Senior government officials in Washington have previously said KEDO, comprised of South Korea, the United States, the European Union and Japan, should be dissolved if the light water reactor plan is fully scrapped.