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N Korea nuke talks break down
22/03/2007 12:07 - (SA)
Beijing - Talks on disarming North Korea's nuclear programme broke down abruptly on Thursday with the country's chief nuclear envoy departing for home after a dispute over money frozen in a Macau bank could not be resolved.
Kim Kye Gwan went to Beijing's airport after refusing 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.
Kim waved to reporters when he arrived at the airport but did not say anything.
An official close to the negotiations, who could not be identified further due to the sensitivity of the talks, said earlier there was a "high possibility" the talks will recess.
Xinhua News Agency said Russian envoy Alexander Losyukov was also leaving on Thursday to Moscow to prepare for a state visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao next week.
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 $25m in North Korean funds frozen since 2005 at the Banco Delta Asia in Macau, a Chinese territory, under pressure from the US.
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," South Korean envoy Chun Yung-woo said early on Thursday.
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 why the transfer has been delayed.
- AP
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