The United States and Russia have reportedly arranged for banks to resolve a financial row over North Korean funds which delayed PyongyangÂ’s nuclear disarmament process. South KoreaÂ’s Yonhap news agency, quoting unnamed sources, said Sunday Russia agreed to help wire the controversial funds -- some 25 million dollars which until recently were frozen in a Macau bank -- to North Korea via the US. The US has unfrozen the funds but North Korea has had difficulty finding a foreign bank to transfer money seen as tainted.| Good, that means our Treasury Department is on the ball. |
The US bank would remain unidentified, the source said. ‘With the new idea backed by the US, China and Russia being pushed in a positive atmosphere, the chances of the transfer of North Korean funds in the near future are getting higher,’ the source was quoted saying.
The banking issue has been a major stumbling block to implementing the landmark aid-for-disarmament agreement reached at six-nation talks in February. Under the first stage of the deal, the North was to shut down its Yongbyon nuclear facility by mid-April. But it has refused to do so until it receives the 25 million dollars.
The US Treasury says it blacklisted BDA on suspicion it was handling the proceeds of North Korean money laundering and counterfeiting.
Last week, Yonhap said the US had also proposed taking BDA off the blacklist, on condition its top executives resign.