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BEIJING : A financial dispute that has stalled efforts to end North Korea's nuclear programme remains unresolved despite promising signals from Pyongyang, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said Friday.
North Korea has for months been trying to retrieve around 25 million dollars that was initially frozen in Macau's Banco Delta Asia (BDA) bank in 2005 under US money laundering and counterfeiting sanctions.
The North has said it will not push ahead with a nuclear disarmament deal brokered in six-nation talks in February until it receives the money.
However, despite the United States lifting the restrictions in March, North Korea has been unable to get the money due to a myriad of complications that include other banks not wanting to touch apparently tainted money.
"The most pressing issue that needs to be resolved at the moment is the DPRK-related money in the BDA," Yang said, using North Korea's official acronym.
"Relevant parties are making intensive efforts to seek a solution to the matter. We hope to see an early and proper settlement of that issue so that the process of the six-party talks will continue," he said during a press conference with British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett.
Yang's comments came after Pyongyang said Tuesday that work was under way to settle the banking row, raising hopes that North Korea would finally start shutting down its nuclear programme.
China is the host of the six-nation disarmament talks, which involve the two Koreas, the United States, Japan and Russia. - AFP/ch
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