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The U.S. and North Korea are apparently nearing the end of their dispute over North Korea¡¯s US$24 million frozen in the Macao-based Banco Delta Asia. Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan told a Japanese delegation from the Liberal Democratic Party Sunday that Washington and Pyongyang had agreed on a way to settle the BDA issue, according to Xinhua News Agency. U.S. top nuclear envoy Christopher Hill confirmed the impending resolution, telling reporters, ¡°We'll be able to say something publicly soon on that very, very soon.¡±
U.S. Treasury Under Secretary Daniel Glaser, who is in charge of the matter, called his meetings with Macau financial officials ¡°cordial and productive.¡± Glaser arrived in Beijing on Sunday from a trip to Macau, where he discussed with the frozen North Korean accounts and the U.S. Treasury Department¡¯s decision to cut the bank from the U.S. financial system with Macanese officials.
South Korean chief nuclear negotiator Chun Yung-woo also predicted the U.S. and North Korea will settle the BDA issue imminently. A South Korean government official said the U.S. chose to unfreeze all of North Korea¡¯s BDA accounts to remove the hurdle to six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear problem.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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