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US says Macau to decide on handling North Korean funds

A senior US Treasury Department official said yesterday that Macau will have to decide whether to release North Korean funds frozen at a bank accused of helping the North launder money and handle counterfeit currency.

After meeting with Macau officials, US Deputy Assistant Secretary Danny Glaser declined to say whether he encouraged the Chinese territory to unfreeze any of the US$25 million in North Korean accounts.

"The Macanese don't need my suggestions. What they needed was the information that we have and we passed that information on," said Glaser, who shared with Macau officials the findings of a 17-month-long investigation of the bank, Banco Delta Asia.

Macau was also mum about what it planned to do. The government issued a brief statement that didn't touch on the issue. It said both sides agreed that mutual dialogue and cooperation should be strengthened when dealing with the North Korean accounts.

As the two sides met, North Korea warned that if all the funds were not released, it would not halt its nuclear activities.

The accounts were frozen in September 2005 after Washington accused the bank of being a willing pawn in North Korean money laundering and counterfeiting.

The move enraged Pyongyang, which boycotted six-nation talks on its nuclear program for more than a year. The discussions recently restarted after the US promised to resolve the banking issue.

Glaser said yesterday that the funds were discussed in the Macau talks, which were "cordial and productive."

"I think it is important to emphasize this was a Macanese action to freeze the funds, and it would be a Macanese process to make a determination about the release of the funds," said Glaser, who is arriving in Beijing today for more talks.

Also yesterday, the US' chief negotiator at the North Korean nuclear talks, Christopher Hill, said he met with Chinese envoy Wu Dawei (武大偉) and hoped that Beijing's concerns were allayed. Beijing, a key player in the six-nation talks, oversees Macau's government and will likely play a big role in deciding how much money is returned to North Korea.
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