North Korea talks break down as envoy leaves

Talks on disarming North Korea’s nuclear programme broke down in Beijing today with the country’s chief nuclear envoy leaving after a dispute over money frozen in a Macau bank.

Kim Kye Gwan went refused to take part in six-party talks on ways to push forward a February agreement calling for North Korea to give up its nuclear programme in return for energy aid and political considerations.

The talks have been bogged down since they started on Monday, with Pyongyang refusing to take part for two days because of problems over the transfer of £12.5m (€18.4m) in North Korean funds frozen since 2005 at Banco Delta Asia in Macau under pressure from the United States.

US officials announced that the money would be transferred to the North Koreans, saying it was up to the Monetary Authority of Macau, a Chinese territory, to release the funds.

China had promised to resolve the issue as quickly as possible by transferring the funds to a North Korean account at the Bank of China.

“Everybody has the political will to resolve the BDA issue fast, but it is yet to be resolved because of technical problems,” said South Korean envoy Chun Yung-woo.

Officials say is it up to the Monetary Authority of Macau to release the funds. So far, neither the monetary authority nor Banco Delta Asia have indicated when that would be, or said why the transfer has been delayed.

But various reasons have been offered by other parties.

A Japanese government official said the Bank of China was reluctant to accept any money that had been the focus of investigations.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said the money transfer was being delayed because Macau authorities were having difficulty confirming the ownership of 50 North Korean accounts, most of which are under the names of the heads of Zokwang Trading, a North Korean-run firm in Macau that US officials have long suspected of being involved in money laundering.