The government expects to start electricity assistance to North Korea by as early as the second half of 2008.

The Ministry of Commerce, Energy and Industry said it would be possible to supply two-million kilowatts of electricity to Pyongyang in September 2008, in accordance with the originally proposed schedule.

A ministry official projected Seoul’s mass energy assistance would still leave South Korea with 14 to 20 percent energy reserves, sufficient enough to guarantee stable power supply to the energy-starved North.

He added that energy reserves for the Seoul metropolitan area, except those for summertime usage, would be sufficient by then, ruling out the need to build additional thermal power plants to realize the mass energy assistance.