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Macau says it will release Pyongyang's frozen funds

Macau said yesterday it will follow North Korea's instructions and release funds that were frozen at a local bank accused by the US of helping the North launder money and handle counterfeit currency.

"As regards the treatment of the NK [North Korean] accounts, the process will be in accordance with the instructions of the account holders," the territory's Monetary Authority said in a brief statement.

Macau was expected to release the frozen US$25 million because earlier yesterday it was announced that North Korea and the US had struck a deal over the funds, held since September 2005.

US Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Daniel Glaser told reporters in Beijing the money would be transferred to a North Korean account at the Bank of China in Beijing to be used for education and humanitarian purposes. Glaser said North Korea had proposed the arrangement.

The money had become a major sticking point in six-nation talks about North Korea's nuclear program. The North boycotted the discussions for more than a year after the US froze the funds.
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