Chief Russian negotiator to the six-party talks Alexander Losyukov said on Tuesday evening that North Korea was concerned about its frozen funds in a Macao bank.

 

According to Losyukov, "North Korea said its frozen funds at Banco Delta Asia (BDA) have not been transferred into the Bank of China in Beijing so far."

 

He told the media that the previously planned meeting of chief delegates on Tuesday afternoon was cancelled because the frozen funds issue was not solved thoroughly.

 

If the frozen funds issue gets properly resolved tonight or tomorrow, all the parties may start to discuss other issues, Losyukov added.

 

In 2005, the US accused the bank of helping North Korea launder money and subsequently froze the US dollar accounts held by North Korea at the bank.

 

North Korea rejected the charge and demanded the US lift such financial sanction before it could return to the six-party talks, which caused the talks to remain stalled for 13 months since the end of 2005.

 

The US had agreed on March 19 to transfer the North Korean funds in the frozen BDA accounts to a Chinese bank in Beijing.

 

Losyukov said the six-party talks are now progressing but many issues remain to be solved.

 

Losyukov said Russia hoped all parties involved in the talks could keep frank negotiations and solve various difficulties emerging in the process of resolving the Korean Peninsula issue.

 

China made great efforts and did excellent organization work, Losyukov added.

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 21, 2007)