The South Korean government has set out to investigate the reported building of an experimental light-water reactor by North Korea.

Jack Pritchard, the head of the Washington-based Korea Economic Institute, has quoted a Pyongyang official as saying that North Korea is aiming to complete the construction of the new 100-megawatt light-water reactor at its Yongbyon nuclear facility by 2012.

A South Korean government official says Seoul will hold a discussion with their U.S. counterparts to determine how true North Korea’s claim is, but that it is unlikely that Pyongyang will complete building the light-water reactor by 2012.

The official said that North Korea could have leaked the news deliberately to pressure the U.S., and that it, therefore, must be investigated.

Another official says that a one-hundred-megawatt light-water reactor is one-tenth the size of a reactor built by the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) in South Hamgyeong Province. However, since they need enriched uranium, the basic functions are similar. The official said the situation is under analysis.