U.S. envoy says April nuclear deadline difficult to meet due to banking dispute

Posted on : 2007-04-09 21:02 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST

The chief U.S. nuclear envoy said Monday that a mid-April deadline for North Korea to shut down its main nuclear complex is becoming difficult to meet due to a banking transaction dispute.

"Clearly, we're aiming for the complete implementation of the February agreement by day 60... but that timeline is becoming difficult," Christopher Hill was quoted as saying in Tokyo by the Associated Press. He was referring to a Feb. 13 six-party agreement in which Pyongyang agreed to shut down its key nuclear complex and admit U.N. inspectors within 60 days, April 14, in return for energy aid and political incentives.

His view was echoed by his North Korean counterpart, Kim Kye-gwan, the AP reported from Pyongyang.

"They can make a beginning, but whether they can completely shut down a nuclear reactor in such a short time would be very difficult," Anthony Principi, U.S. President George W. Bush's former veteran affairs secretary, was quoted as saying.

Kim also held talks with U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson, who was visiting Pyongyang.

With the denuclearization deadline coming within days, negotiators from South and North Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia are trying to resolve the dispute over the North Korean money frozen in a Macao bank.

Roughly US$25 million of North Korean deposits at Banco Delta Asia have been frozen since late 2005 after the U.S. accused the Macau bank of helping the North launder money and counterfeit U.S. dollars.

As part of the landmark February accord, Washington announced the release of the funds, but the transfer was delayed due to what negotiators called a "technical problem." Seoul officials suggested that banks in China that were asked to handle the transaction were reluctant to handle the North Korean money for fear of possible repercussions, such as a fall in their credit ratings.

Pyongyang says it will only shut down its nuclear complex after the funds are freed.

To work on the banking dispute, Hill was to arrive in Seoul on Tuesday as part of his northeast Asian tour which started in Tokyo on Monday and will end in Beijing.

Seoul officials played down any significance of the April 14 deadline. Even if the deadline is not met, North Korea will take steps to denuclearize once the banking dispute is resolved, they said.

"The deadline in itself is not important. The BDA issue is clogging the progress, but that doesn't mean that North Korea has no more will of denuclearization," a high-level official well-versed in the six-party talks said on condition of anonymity.

During his three-day stay in Seoul, Hill is scheduled to meet his South Korean counterpart, Chun Young-woo, to coordinate a possible solution, foreign ministry officials said.

On his last leg of the trip in Beijing starting Thursday, Hill may meet with his North Korean counterpart, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan, another diplomatic source said.

"It hasn't been confirmed yet, but there is a chance of Kim coming to Beijing," the source said on condition of anonymity.

Hill's regional tour coincides with a rare visit to Pyongyang by Richardson, the Democratic governor of the U.S. state of New Mexico. He said his four-day trip to the North aims at recovering the remains of U.S. soldiers killed during the Korean War, and that he doesn't have plans to discuss the nuclear issue.

Details of Richardson's itinerary are still unknown amid press reports that he requested a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

"They never tell you the schedule until you arrive," the U.S. governor was quoted as saying. "It's the nature of the regime.

They want to keep you off balance." After the North Korea trip, his sixth visit to the communist country, Richardson is scheduled to travel overland to Seoul on Wednesday via the inter-Korean border.

Seoul, April 9 (Yonhap News)