Talks on ending North Korea's nuclear programme reached stalemate yesterday over the delayed transfer of funds frozen in a Macau bank, prompting frustrated delegates to warn that a chance to press forward was being lost.
The three-day session that began on Monday was meant to focus on steering forward a February 13 deal which calls on North Korea to shut its main nuclear reactor and accept other disarmament steps in 60 days in return for economic aid and security assurances.
But impoverished North Korea has insisted it must first see $25 million freed from Macau's Banco Delta Asia (BDA), testing the patience of other negotiators and underscoring the pitfalls that could derail February's breakthrough deal.
The money is to be transferred to a North Korean account at the Bank of China.
"As far as I know, the Bank of China refuses to accept the transfer of the frozen funds" from BDA, Xinhua's news agency quoted Russian envoy Alexander Losyukov as saying.
A diplomatic source said: "China, in fact, does not want to play a role in getting the 'dirty money' back to North Korea. The Americans are smart enough to toss the ball in the Chinese court over the questionable funds."
US envoy Christopher Hill told reporters there had been a "real opportunity cost" to the delay.
"The Chinese asked us to stay another day. They feel they can resolve some of these issues of the bank account that were holding things up."
The talks were extended at least till today, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.
North Korea boycotted six-party talks for over a year, blaming Macau's freezing of the accounts, which came after Washington accused the bank of harbouring its illicit earnings.
Pyongyang returned to the table last December, months after conducting its first nuclear test, which drew international condemnation and UN sanctions.
A Japanese delegate said there had been a "technical problem" with the funds transfer, and one diplomat said there had been trouble getting all the account holders to fill out forms and sign on the dotted line.
Other envoys expressed irritation with the delays, which have stalled discussions meant to focus on how to move beyond the 60-day commitments to coordinate North Korea's steps to disable its nuclear reactor on delivery of energy aid.