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North Korea watchers are once again turning to Beijing where officials from Pyongyang are set to hold talks with their U.S. counterparts. They'll be meeting in the Chinese capital to discuss Washington's freezing of North Korea's assets at a bank in Macau. The two sides are approaching the issue from different angles, but sources are hinting there could be a compromise at hand that could contribute to progress at the six-party talks.
U.S. and North Korean finance specialists will continue Tuesday talks on Pyongyang's alleged illegal financial transactions after holding the first round last month. U.S. Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Daniel Glaser is in Beijing and chief North Korean delegate O Kwang-chol is expected to join him Tuesday when the talks begin.
Glaser said, "I'm looking forward to some productive meetings picking up where we left off. The meetings should start on Tuesday afternoon. So, I'll be seeing all of you. Thanks a lot."
The meeting comes amid reports that the U.S. is considering a partial lift of its financial penalties on the Macau-based Banco Delta Asia, which is accused of helping the regime launder money and circulate counterfeit dollars.
US$24 million of North Korean funds in the bank remain frozen, but a Japanese report says up to half of that amount could get unfrozen because it may have come from legal sources.
Pyongyang has linked the financial issue to the nuclear standoff, but it's unclear if the results of this week¡¯s meeting will affect the six-party talks, which are expected to resume Feb. 8 in Beijing. Host China is expected to announce a date by Tuesday.
The goal for the upcoming negotiations is to agree on "actions-for-actions" in the early stage of North Korea¡¯s nuclear dismantlement and put them on paper. Another target is to wrap up negotiations before the Lunar New Year holidays that begin Feb. 17, but sources warn that anything can happen when negotiating with North Korea.
Arirang News
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