The United States is likely to soon announce the result of its probe into North Korean accounts at a bank in Macau that were frozen over money laundering suspicions, leaving the issue of whether to unfreeze some of the accounts to China, a government official said Wednesday.
"Once the six-party talks (on North Korea's nuclear programs) resume, the U.S. Treasury Department will conclude whether to define the Banco Delta Asia (BDA) as a main conduit for money laundering," Vice Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said in a government audit session. "With the decision, the question of unfreezing the accounts or confiscating the North's money will hinge on the judgement of the Chinese government."
Beijing froze North Korean accounts worth US$24 million in the BDA last year in line with the U.S. Treasury's investigation into the bank for allegedly serving as a main conduit for bringing counterfeit dollars made in North Korea into international circulation.
The BDA issue has been one of the biggest stumbling blocks to the resumption of six-nation nuclear talks that have been stalled since November.
Regarding the talks, Vice Minister Yu forecast they will be resumed as early as the end of this month. "High-level negotiations are expected to take place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit scheduled for November 18 and 19, and the six-party talks will likely resume after that," he said.
In a background briefing, however, another official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade called Vice Minister Yu's remarks on the BDA issue "his personal speculation." "I haven't heard that the U.S., China and North Korea reached an agreement on the issue at their negotiations on Oct. 31," said the official. "Except for the decision to resume the six-party talks, the only other point agreed upon was to form a working group to discuss financial issues."
The chief envoys to the six-party negotiations from the United States, North Korea and China met in Beijing on Tuesday, and the North agreed to return to the talks.
On Wednesday, North Korea announced its intention to return to the negotiating table, adding that U.S. financial sanctions which have kept it away from the talks will be discussed at the upcoming round.
The U.N. Security Council unanimously passed a resolution on Oct. 14 punishing North Korea for conducting its first known nuclear test on Oct. 9.
Seoul, Nov. 1 (Yonhap News)
U.S. expected to announce results of probe on N. Korea's money laundering soon |
