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BEIJING : Top negotiators to the North Korean nuclear disarmament talks expressed frustration with the Stalinist nation's negotiating tactics on Wednesday, as discussions were extended at least an extra day.
North Korea refused to attend a series of meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday as it awaited the promised return of US$25 million frozen in a Macau bank account.
With talks stalled most of Wednesday, host China called a meeting of chief delegates late in the evening to get the agreement of all sides to extend negotiations.
"At the chief delegates' meeting we decided to extend the meeting by one or two days," Japan's chief negotiator Kenichiro Sasae told journalists.
"The current situation does not seem like it is going to be resolved immediately."
The latest round of the six-nation talks began on Monday on an optimistic note with the United States announcing it had resolved the long-running financial sanctions dispute with North Korea that had been the major stumbling block in the forum.
Washington had frozen the Macau bank account amid allegations of money laundering and counterfeiting by the North Korean regime.
Macau authorities said the money would be transferred into a North Korean account, but by Wednesday the funds had yet to be delivered.
North Korea, which conducted its first atomic weapons test in October last year, agreed last month to shut down its main nuclear reactor at Yongbyon by mid-April and allow UN inspectors back into the country.
In return, the impoverished regime would initially receive 50,000 tonnes of heavy fuel for energy use.
"We all have jobs to do. Waiting around for some forms to be filled out is not usually in our job descriptions," US envoy Christopher Hill told reporters after spending the first part of Wednesday in his hotel room.
"You cannot expect these large delegations to sit around while it is being sorted out."
Chief South Korean envoy Chun Yung-woo said the North Koreans had taken the other negotiators by surprise.
"Nobody expected that such a problem would arise. There are some technical problems that are beyond our control," Chun said, while holding out hope that talks could progress.
"At the moment nobody is proposing to suspend the talks, even the North Koreans and the Chinese do not propose to suspend talks."
An official involved in the talks said problems included a time-consuming clearance process, as some North Korean bank account owners turned out to be already dead or not living in Macau.
Macau authorities also had to go through the strict procedures required to remit such a large amount through the international banking system, according to the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
China's Xinhua news agency reported that the Bank of China was refusing to accept transfer of the funds into one of its accounts in Beijing.
The report, quoting Russian envoy Alexander Losyukov, did not give details.
This week's round of talks was meant to consolidate those initial terms and then look forward to a longer-term road map for complete disarmament.
But Hill on Wednesday said the longer-term aspects of this week's talks now looked to be off the table.
"Right now it looks like we are not going to be able to make progress on the denuclearisation issue," he said.
However, he and others voiced confidence that the key initial steps of the accord could still be implemented on schedule.
"I think (the North Koreans) have made it clear on several occasions, including yesterday, that they will live up to the February agreement," Hill said.
Reporting "good progress" at the talks, China's foreign ministry on Tuesday also said the North had indicated it would abide by the accord.
Under the deal, North Korea would eventually receive one million tonnes of heavy fuel or equivalent energy aid if it permanently shuts down its nuclear facilities and completely dismantles its atomic weapons programme. - AFP/de
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