US urges NKorea to bring back nuclear inspectors

Beijing, Apr 15: The United States urged North Korea today to invite back international inspectors and begin shutting down a nuclear reactor, but the top US negotiator repeated that Washington would give Pyongyang a few more days.

Pyongyang apparently missed a deadline yesterday to shut down its Soviet-era Yongbyon nuclear plant as part of a multilateral disarmament deal struck in February.

''We're flexible, we're reasonable, but it's time to get moving,'' Assistant Secretary of State Chris Hill told reporters in Beijing before heading to see China's Great Wall.

''We have agreed that we need to give this process another few days,'' Hill said, adding that Pyongyang should call back International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors.

North Korea has insisted it must first have access to millions of dollars in accounts that were frozen for 18 months at Macau's Banco Delta Asia after the United States accused the bank of being involved in money laundering.

North Korea said on Friday it would soon check whether it could access about 25 million dollars in the Banco Delta Asia accounts.

It was not clear today whether Pyongyang had already sought access to the money or whether it was awaiting further banking procedures that might be preventing it from gaining access to the funds.

Hill said he had been talking with his counterparts in the six-party nuclear negotiations, including Japan and South Korea, and they had also agreed to give North Korea a few more days.

''We're not planning to issue any more deadlines, but I think the idea is to give this a few more days and see how it goes.'' Pyongyang, which conducted is first nuclear test last October, has said it remains committed to implementing the February 13 denuclearisation agreement ''and will also move'' when the money in the Macau bank is released.

Reuters

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