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End to N Korean sanctions could revive six-party talks
AP, BEIJING
Friday, Mar 16, 2007, Page 5
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A North Korean flag flutters behind the barbed wire fence of the North Korean embassy in Beijing on Thursday.
PHOTO: AFP
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Talks on Pyongyang's commitment to close its main nuclear reactor in exchange for energy aid were expected to gain momentum, the chief US nuclear negotiator said yesterday, after the US took steps that could lead to the unfreezing of North Korean funds held at a Macau bank.
The US Treasury announced in Washington it had wrapped up an investigation of a Macau bank that the US accused of helping North Korea launder money from counterfeiting and other illegal activities.
The thorny financial case had upset the North Koreans, who indicated in talks on Wednesday with the chief UN nuclear inspector that they were still on line to close the Yongbyon reactor within a month -- as long as Washington meets its promise to drop financial sanctions.
"We'll be having some consultations, I'm sure, in really the hours and days ahead ... with the six-party process again getting going this weekend," US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill told reporters yesterday.
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