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US hopeful talks with Pyongyang will resume soon

The US envoy to talks on dismantling North Korea's nuclear programs said yesterday that negotiations could resume in a week or two after talks abruptly ended without progress because of a financial dispute.

The failed session was the latest blow to the six-nation negotiations and could imperil a fragile disarmament process. Delegates are scrambling to meet a series of tight deadlines on shutting down the North's main nuclear reactor and delivering energy aid in return before an April 14 deadline.

US envoy Christopher Hill said yesterday morning before departing Beijing that it was "quite possible" the talks could start again within a week or two once the financial issue had been cleared up.

The talks between the Koreas, the US, Japan, Russia and China opened on Monday with the aim of fine-tuning ways to implement a hard-fought Feb. 13 agreement under which the North would ultimately fully disclose and dismantle all its nuclear programs.

But discussions never got off the ground because of a drawn out dispute over the transfer of North Korean funds that had been frozen in Banco Delta Asia, a lender in the Chinese territory of Macau.

North Korea had refused to participate in full six-party talks until all US$25 million was released.

The other envoys became impatient and on Thursday, China issued a statement saying they would take a recess, but did not give a restart date.

Even before China called the recess, chief North Korean negotiator Kim Kye-gwan had flown out of Beijing, upset that the funds remained stuck at the Macau bank.

Hill said that another six-party negotiation session would be arranged "as soon as we get their bank transfer done."

South Korea's envoy, Chun Yung-woo, said the key issue is not the date of the next talks but whether North Korea sticks to the timetable of its agreements.

"What is important is whether North Korea shuts down its Yongbyong nuclear facility and allows the return of the IAEA [inspectors] to meet the April 14 deadline," Chun said. "That is the important factor that will determine the future of the Feb. 13 agreement."

The US had agreed earlier this week to allow the funds to be transferred to a Bank of China account in Beijing.

Officials, however, said the release was held up by the Chinese bank's concerns about accepting money that had been linked to counterfeiting and money laundering. Adding to the confusion, the Bank of China denied it was told to accept the money.

The Macau Monetary Authority, the territory's bank regulator, would not comment yesterday. Banco Delta Asia officials did not immediately return calls for comment.

Russian envoy Alexander Losyukov, who also left for home on Thursday, was quoted by ITAR-Tass news agency as saying "the whole problem came from the American side."

He said the US failed to assure China that the Bank of China could receive the funds without fear of US sanctions or discrimination by the banking community and the US government.

In Washington, the White House said the delay in the transfer was the result of technical problems, and not unwillingness on the part of the US.

Sean McCormack, the State Department spokesman, said the US envoy dealing with the Macau matter, Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Daniel Glaser, would return to Beijing to help officials work out details of the transfer.
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