North Korea demands money before talks
CHINA: North Korean nuclear disarmament talks stalled again on
Wednesday as Pyongyang refused to come to the negotiating table until 25
million dollars in frozen funds were back in its coffers.
Planned meetings of the chief envoys to the six-nation talks on
Wednesday morning did not take place, officials involved in the
negotiations said, as North Korea insisted it would not talk until the
money was safely returned.
“It is difficult for me at the moment to predict when the plenary
meeting among the chief delegates will open today,” chief South Korean
envoy Chun Yung-Woo told reporters.
“It depends on North Korea... If North Korea keeps insisting that it
should not take part in the discussions at all before the transfer of
the money, it will be difficult to have the plenary talks.”
Authorities in Macau, where the money has been frozen since 2005 due
to US accusations of North Korean money laundering and counterfeiting,
said this week it would be released to a North Korean bank account.
But no-one involved in the process has said when this will take
place.
North Korea has repeatedly said it will not begin implementing a
six-nation disarmament accord signed on February 13 until the money is
safely back in its hands.
The United States announced on Monday, at the start of the latest
round of six-nation talks, that it had struck a deal with North Korea to
end the dispute and the frozen money would be returned.
The United States insisted that it had received assurances from North
Korea that the money would be used only for “humanitarian and
educational purposes,” however officials from Pyongyang have not said
where the funds will go.
Despite the hold-up in the talks, which have been plagued by delays
and arguments since beginning in 2003, parties remained confident that
the key initial steps of the February 13 accord could be implemented on
schedule.
North Korea, which conducted its first atomic test in October last
year, agreed in the deal to close its main nuclear reactor at Yongbyon
by mid-April and allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors
back into the country.
In return, North Korea would initially receive 50,000 tonnes of heavy
fuel for energy use.
Reporting “good progress” at the talks, China’s foreign ministry on
Tuesday afternoon said the North had indicated it would abide by the
accord.
“We found that North Korea is ready to shut down and seal the
facility in Yongbyon and accept the monitoring and supervision of the
International Atomic Energy Agency,” ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao
told reporters.
Chief US envoy Christopher Hill also said on Tuesday night, after
meeting with North Korean negotiator Kim Kye-Gwan for an hour, that
achieving the initial phase of the agreement remained a realistic
possibility.
“We are pretty much on schedule,” he said.
North Korea would eventually receive one million tonnes of heavy fuel
or equivalent energy aid if it permanently closed its nuclear facilities
and completely disbanded its atomic weapons programme.
The six-nation talks involve China, the two Koreas, the United
States, Japan and Russia.
Beijing, Wednesday, AFP
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