North Korea refused to attend a session of six-party talks on dismantling its nuclear programs yesterday while it awaits the return of US$25 million in frozen assets, diplomats said.
The refusal meant negotiators at the talks in Beijing were unable to make the progress they had wanted, but a South Korean diplomat insisted the problem would soon be resolved.
"According to ... China, North Korea says they will not come to the gathering until they confirm the transfer of the money," Japan's top nuclear negotiator, Kenichiro Sasae, told journalists. "In conclusion, there was no progress today [yesterday]."
Chinese foreign ministry officials also confirmed that the plenary session scheduled for yesterday afternoon had been postponed, but they refused to say why.
The US Treasury had announced on Monday that about US$25 million in North Korean funds frozen in a Macau bank could be released, although no timeframe was given.
The announcement, ending a dispute that had held up the disarmament process, added an air of optimism as envoys met on Monday in Beijing for the latest round of talks.
Although North Korea welcomed the US decision, it had made clear it wanted the money safely back in its hands before going any further in the six-party process, a pro-Pyongyang newspaper in Japan reported.
"The DPRK [North Korea] insists that the issue will be fully resolved only when the release of frozen funds is confirmed," the Chosun Sinbo said on its Web site yesterday.
A South Korean official involved in the six-nation talks said the chief envoys from North Korea and the US met bilaterally yesterday and that the money was expected to be delivered very soon.
"The issue is expected to be resolved tonight at the earliest or early tomorrow morning at the latest. We expect to have substantive discussions tomorrow," the official told reporters.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he had based his remarks on comments made by chief North Korean envoy Kim Kye-gwan.
Authorities in Macau, where the money has been frozen since 2005, said on Monday they would release the money to a North Korean bank account in Beijing, but did not say when.
Abductees
Meanwhile, Japan said yesterday it will license a private radio station to broadcast messages of support to potential Japanese abduction survivors living in North Korea.
Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications Yoshihide Suga told a press conference the ministry plans to approve the license tomorrow, ministry official Michinari Motohashi said.
A support group, based in Tokyo, has been transmitting 30-minute programs twice daily via shortwave since late 2005. But the group has had to commission a British broadcaster because it had no license to operate in Japan, according to group member Kenji Murao.
Kyodo News agency said the British company transmitted the programs for the group via facilities in North Korea's neighboring countries.
"The abduction victims are waiting to be rescued as early as possible," Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a group of reporters yesterday. "We have the responsibility to have the abducted people return to Japan. It was a decision made from this viewpoint."
"It was regrettable that [the group] has not been able to send messages from Japan until now," the communication minister was quoted as saying by Motohashi. "The license will allow constant and stable release of information from Japan. I'd be very happy if this leads to the early resolution of the kidnapping issue."
North Korea admitted in 2002 that it kidnapped 13 Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s. North Korea sent five of them home later that year, but insisted the rest were dead. Japan has demanded proof and says more of its citizens may have been taken.
Earlier this month, the government announced plans to launch a television ad campaign to boost public support for the kidnapping issue.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique