The Hindu : International : Six-party talks end abruptly

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Friday, Mar 23, 2007
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International

Six-party talks end abruptly

Pallavi Aiyar

Beijing: Six-way talks to negotiate the process of North Korea's denuclearisation came to an abrupt halt on Thursday with DPRK's chief envoy, Kim Kye-gwan unexpectedly leaving Beijing.

Since Tuesday Pyongyang had refused to participate in any substantive group discussions relating to the implementation of the February 13 accord which binds the North to closing down its main nuclear reactor by April 14, in return for energy assistance and security assurances.

The reason given by the DPRK for this refusal is that the country is waiting for confirmed receipts of $25 million worth of frozen funds from a Macau bank to an account in Beijing's Bank of China, before proceeding with negotiations.

Talks had been extended to Thursday in the hope that the funds would come through in time, however the delay in the transfer continued and with Mr. Kim's departure all hopes for a last minute rescue of this round of the negotiations ended. The chairman of the talks, China's envoy Wu Dawei formally announced a recess in this round of talks late on Thursday afternoon. He said all sides had affirmed their commitment to the February 13 deal and that they had also expressed a willingness to return to the dialogue as soon as possible.

Delay in transfer

Russian envoy Alexander Losyukov who also headed home on Thursday told reporters that the delay in the transfer of the funds occurred after the Bank of China refused to accept the money. Reuters quoted a diplomatic source as saying China did not want to play a role in getting "dirty money" back to North Korea.

The e money remains stuck in Macau and neither the Macau monetary authorities nor Banco Delta Asia, the bank in which the funds were frozen have indicated when they will be released. North Korea had boycotted the six-nation talks for more than a year after Washington blacklisted Banco Delta Asia on suspicion that the North Korean funds deposited there were connected to money-laundering or counterfeiting.

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