This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6533617.stm

The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
N Korea fund row solution 'found' N Korea fund row 'solution found'
(40 minutes later)
The US has said it has found a way to transfer frozen North Korean funds in a row that has been holding up moves to shut Pyongyang's nuclear facilities. The US says it has found a way to return North Korean funds frozen in a Macau bank, possibly ending a row that has stalled progress on a nuclear deal.
A State Department spokesman said the US was supporting the release of $25m (£12.7m) held in a Macao bank. A State Department spokesman said banking officials had agreed a "pathway" for transferring the US$25m (£12.7m) back to North Korea.
"We have identified a way to potentially implement fully the agreement," the spokesman said. Pyongyang has insisted on the return of the money before moving ahead.
Until it gets the money back, Pyongyang is refusing to take steps to implement a landmark deal signed in February. Diplomats are concerned the row means North Korea will miss an imminent deadline to close a key nuclear plant.
Under the deal, the North agreed to shut its main nuclear reactor in 60 days, which is now only eight days away. Under the 13 February agreement, North Korea agreed to shut down and seal its Yongbyon nuclear plant within 60 days in return for energy aide and other incentives from its dialogue partners - the US, China, Russia, South Korea and Japan.
Deal 'unlikely' But progress on implementing the landmark deal has been delayed because of the financial dispute.
US negotiators left talks Beijing earlier in the day without solving the dispute. 'Technical pathway'
Earlier this week China's nuclear negotiator Wu Dawei said the deadline was unlikely to be met because of the funding dispute. US negotiators have been holding talks in Beijing for several days on resolving the row.
The money was kept in the Banco Delta Asia in Macau, which has been on a US blacklist since September 2005. The US announced on 14 March that it had completed an investigation into money-laundering allegations against Macau's Banco Delta Asia.
However State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said later on Friday that the US was ready to discuss the transfer with Macau authorities "and other interested parties as they work to implement that decision", according to the Associated Press (AP). This paved the way for money frozen since September 2005 to be transferred to a North Korean account in China.
"The implementation phase of that is going to be up to others," he said. But the transfer has still not taken place, amid reports Chinese banks do not want to receive the money in case it damages their credit ratings.
According to AP, Mr McCormack said the money had to be used for the "betterment of the North Korean people and for humanitarian purposes". However, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said officials had now identified "the technical pathway by which these funds may be returned".
The bank has been on a US blacklist since September 2005 He said it was now up to the authorities in Macau to handle the transfer of the money.
US delegates at the Beijing discussions - led by senior US Treasury official Daniel Glaser - have not given up hope of a deal being reached yet. Mr McCormack also said that US nuclear negotiator Christopher Hill would be returning to the region on Sunday, in an indication that the implementation of the deal could be getting back on track.
"We believe that it is possible to meet the 60-day deadline and are working with the other parties to accomplish that goal," said Susan Stevenson, a US Embassy spokeswoman in Beijing. Mr Hill will visit Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing for talks, he said.
"Our discussions and common efforts with all parties continue," she said. Under the deal, North Korea must close its nuclear plant on 14 April.
Under the landmark 13 February deal, the US, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia jointly agreed to supply energy aid and other incentives to North Korea if it "shut down and sealed" its main nuclear reactor at Yongbyon.