US, N Korea to resume financial talks on Jan 30

WASHINGTON, Jan 26 (Reuters) US officials will resume talks with their North Korean counterparts over US financial curbs against Pyongyang on January 30 in Beijing, a US Treasury Department spokeswoman said today.

The multi-agency US delegation will be headed by Daniel Glaser, deputy assistant Treasury secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes, at a location in Beijing to be determined.

The planned talks follow a previous round of discussions in December that ran parallel to six-nation talks over North Korea's nuclear programme.

In those discussions, the United States insisted that North Korea halt illicit financing activities including counterfeiting US currency and drug trafficking, while the North Koreans demanded that a freeze be lifted on North Korean accounts at Macau's Banco Delta Asia.

REUTERS SI ND2304