A one-day extension on Thursday failed to kick-start stalled six-party negotiations on ending North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme, with the chief North Korean negotiator apparently on his way back to Pyongyang.
The talks were likely to be suspended following an unexpected delay in the transfer of frozen funds from a Macau bank, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency quoted an unidentified South Korean official as saying.
North Korean chief nuclear negotiator Kim Kye Gwan was seen at Beijing’s Capital Airport and was expected to return to Pyongyang, the agency said.
The Chinese government’s Xinhua news agency also quoted sources as saying the talks may ”recess” and that Russian envoy Alexander Losyukov planned to leave Beijing on Thursday.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry made no immediate statement about whether the talks were suspended or would continue this week. Ministry spokesperson Liu Jianchao on Thursday afternoon said all sides were making ”constructive and active efforts” to resolve the banking problem.
”But the difficulties in resolving this issue have exceeded our expectations,” Liu told reporters. ”We still need some time to consult with the relevant parties.”
The problems over the transfer of $25-million from the Macau-based Banco Delta Asia to a Bank of China account in Beijing meant that the talks had made no progress since Monday.
Uncertainty surrounded the planned bank transfer after Bank of China officials said such a transfer would normally be completed in one to two working days, irrespective of the amount involved.
”The six parties have the political willingness to resolve the frozen DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] funds issue, but the technical problems with the issue have not been resolved yet,” Xinhua quoted South Korean negotiator Chun Yung Woo as saying.
Yonhap quoted unnamed sources as saying that the main cause of the delay was the Chinese bank’s refusal to accept the North Korean funds from the Macau bank accounts.
These accounts had been ruled by the United States Treasury last week as being linked to the North’s illicit financial activities, such as counterfeiting and money laundering.
China’s banking system has recently introduced anti-money-laundering regulations similar to those used in Western nations.
Another reason for the delay was that documents needed to be filled out by holders of North Korea’s approximately 50 accounts at the Macau bank, Yonhap said.
Liu said the transfer would be ”conducted reasonably and according to the law”, but declined to elaborate.
US negotiator Christopher Hill said on Wednesday that North Korea’s insistence on moving the funds before resuming talks had brought a ”real opportunity cost” to the six-party process.
But Hill said he believed the six-party process was ”still on track” and that North Korea was committed to a February 13 agreement to dismantle its nuclear programme.
North Korea, the US, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia already had ”elements of a good plan for the next phase”, Hill said without elaborating.
The latest round of talks had begun amid optimism on Monday after diplomats said an agreement had been reached on the release of the North Korean funds, removing a major sticking point in the negotiations.
The delegations had been scheduled to discuss steps required by North Korea to meet its obligation to shut down its main nuclear reactor and allow United Nations inspections within 60 days of the February 13 agreement.
The six nations agreed in February that North Korea would shut down its Yongbyon nuclear reactor in exchange for energy supplies, normalised international relations and the lifting of US economic sanctions. — Sapa-dpa