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North Korea can now either withdraw its US$25 million in the Banco Delta Asia in cash or leave them in the bank after Macanese authorities unblocked the funds on Tuesday. It remains to be seen how North Korea will respond and whether it will immediately move to fulfill its part of a Feb. 13 six-nation agreement and shut down its nuclear facilities.
The U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement Tuesday that Macau authorities are ready to let North Korea take back its assets, which had been frozen in the bank. South Korean top nuclear negotiator Chun Yung-woo said after a meeting with U.S. chief nuclear envoy Christopher Hill the situation has returned to the status quo ante of Sept. 2005, when the U.S. fingered the bank as a ˇ°major money-laundering concern.ˇ± Pyongyang can either withdraw the money or carry out banking transactions with the funds, Chun said.
Hill visited South Korea as part of a Northeast Asia tour. ˇ°The United States supports any decision by Macau to release the funds to authorized account holders,ˇ± he said. ˇ°It's obviously a big step that I think should clear the way for the (North) to step up the process of dealing with its obligations within the 60-day period.ˇ±
But North Korea had been demanding that all the assets are transferred to the Bank of China, which refuses to handle the North Korean money. There are hopes that New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and National Security Council advisor Victor Cha will bring a reply from North Korea when they return home on Wednesday.
Asked if the North is likely to shut down its nuclear facilities by Saturday, as originally agreed, Hill said, ˇ°We've got a few more days, so let's see how we do in the next couple of days. Obviously, it's a very important week and I'd say a crucial couple of days.ˇ± He warned Pyongyang faces a ˇ°very uncertain futureˇ± if it does not start the process.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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