U.S.: NKorea would allow U.N. inspectors

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

U.S.: NKorea would allow U.N. inspectors

By FOSTER KLUG, Associated Press Writer
28 minutes ago

PYONGYANG, North Korea - North Korea's top nuclear negotiator told a visiting
American delegation Monday that U.N. inspectors would be invited back once $25
million in frozen funds are released, but said it could be difficult for Pyongyang to
meet a Saturday deadline for shutting down its main nuclear reactor.

-snip-

On Monday, North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan met with Bill Richardson,
a Democratic presidential candidate, and Anthony Principi, President Bush's former
veteran affairs secretary, who were visiting Pyongyang.

Kim "indicated that the North Korean government would invite the ... inspectors back
the moment the funds are released to the North Korean government," Principi told
reporters after the meeting.

Kim also told the delegation of the difficulty of shutting down the regime's main
nuclear reactor by a Saturday deadline called for in the February nuclear disarmament
accord, he said.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070409/ap_on_re_as/nkorea_nuclear

[Eugene]

1. Macau prepared to unblock NKorea funds

Source: Associated Press

Macau prepared to unblock NKorea funds

By SCOTT McDONALD, Associated Press Writer
25 minutes ago

BEIJING - Macau authorities are prepared to unblock frozen North Korean funds,
the U.S. Treasury Department said Tuesday, possibly paving the way for a
breakthrough in an agreement to dismantle Pyongyang's nuclear program.

But Macau's Monetary Authority said it has not received instructions to release
the money. A call to a spokesman of the Banco Delta Asia, the bank where the
funds are being held, was not immediately returned Tuesday. The lender had been
blacklisted by Washington for allegedly helping the North launder money and its
North Korean accounts were frozen.

-snip-

"The United States understands that the Macau authorities are prepared to
unblock all North Korean-related accounts currently frozen in Banco Delta Asia,"
the Treasury Department said in a statement. "The United States would support
a decision by the Macau authorities to unblock the accounts in question."

The statement, released over e-mail before dawn Tuesday, did not give any other
details. It comes ahead of a Saturday deadline by which North Korea was to take
initial steps toward dismantling its nuclear program, including closing its main
nuclear reactor, in exchange for the aid.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070410/ap_on_re_as/nkorea_nuclear