North Korea silent on funds in nuclear deal: SKorea

Seoul, Apr 13: North Korea has offered no explanation why it has not claimed the unfrozen offshore funds it insisted be released before shutting down its nuclear reactor, South Korea's foreign minister said today.

Under an international agreement on its nuclear disarmament, the secretive communist state has until tomorrow to start the closure, a deadline it looks certain to miss.

''North has not shown any response whatsoever,'' Song Min-soon told reporters.

Washington says that authorities in Macau have unblocked about 25 million dollar of North Korean funds at Banco Delta Asia (BDA), which was frozen for about 18 months due to suspected links to illicit activities, and Pyongyang can now pick up the money.

Yesterday, China -- the North's main benefactor, which also plays a crucial role in the cash exchange -- suggested the issue was not quite resolved. The United States says it is.

Washington, Seoul and others have been pressing Pyongyang to meet the deadline under the agreement reached in February in talks among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.

''If North Korea does not meet the deadline, we'll see where we are,'' a US official in Washington said. ''Let's take it a day at a time.''

Reuters