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North Korea and the United States are scheduled to hold bilateral talks on Jan. 22 to discuss Washington's lifting of anti-Pyongyang financial sanctions, a North Korean diplomat said.

Taku Yamasaki, a member of the House of Representatives of Japan, quoted Song Il-ho, Pyongyang's ambassador in charge of North Korea-Japan relations, as saying that North Korea and the U.S. will discuss financial sanctions on Jan. 22 and a possible resumption of the six-party talks aimed at terminating the North's nuclear weapons program.

Yamasaki, now in Pyongyang, made the remarks during a telephone interview with Japanese broadcaster TBS on Friday night. But he did not disclose where the two-way financial talks would take place. He arrived in the North Korean capital on Tuesday for a five-day visit.

South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-Soon and ranking Chinese officials also said earlier this week that the U.S. and North Korea are expected to resume critical talks later this month on U.S. sanctions against Pyongyang.

The meeting is crucial to pushing forward the six-nation talks, as Pyongyang has vowed not to engage in substantive discussions without the lifting of financial sanctions.

Financial teams from the two nations met in Beijing on the sidelines of the six-party talks last month, but failed to reach an agreement. At stake is about US$24 million in Macao-based Banco Delta Asia accounts belonging to the North Korean leadership. The assets were frozen after Washington claimed the bank had passed counterfeit currency and engaged in money laundering for its North Korean clients.

Tokyo, Jan. 13 (Yonhap News)