South Korea is considering using one of its state-run banks as
an intermediary to transfer North Korean funds out of a Macao bank
to help implement a nuclear deal with Pyongyang, a local newspaper
reported yesterday.
Pyongyang has demanded the transfer of US$25 million in assets
at Macao-based Banco Delta Asia (BDA) as a condition for starting
the shutdown of its nuclear facilities under a February 13,
six-country disarmament deal.
The South Korean Foreign Ministry and presidential Blue House
declined to comment directly on the report but said Seoul has been
involved in discussions on a wide range of possibilities to resolve
technical complications.
North Korea missed an April 14 deadline for the start of the
nuclear shutdown.
Under the South Korea plan, the Export-Import Bank of Korea will
act as an intermediary between BDA and a North Korean bank account
in a third country, a high-ranking national security source was
quoted as saying by the Chosun Ilbo newspaper.
"The United States has agreed to the government's plan, and I
understand it has conveyed the position that it won't raise issues
if the Export-Import Bank of Korea mediates the transfer of BDA
funds," the source was quoted as saying.
Export-Import Bank officials said they were unable to comment on
the report. One official said no one from the bank attended a
reported high-level meeting last week to discuss the possibility of
using it as an intermediary.
A Japanese daily reported on Sunday that North Korea wanted to
open an account at a New York bank for the transfer but the idea
had been rejected by Washington.
North Korea reaffirmed yesterday that it is ready to quickly
shut down its nuclear reactor after receiving the US$25 million
funds. "The shutdown is something that can be done immediately and
it won't take long," Ri Kyong-son, vice-spokesman at the North
Korean Foreign Ministry, said in an interview in Pyongyang.
(China Daily May 8, 2007)
