North Korea links IAEA visit to frozen funds

Seoul, Apr 20: North Korea today reaffirmed its commitment toallow UN nuclear inspectors back into the country as soon as it hadverified that funds frozen at a Macau bank were unblocked.

Pyongyang has made similar statements before, but its latestpledge followed a tense meeting in North Korea yesterday when Seoulindicated it was reconsidering an offer to send rice aid to itsimpoverished neighbour.

South Korea had planned to announce a resumption of food aid atthe meeting, but officials have said Seoul was upset that the North hadmissed a deadline in a disarmament deal.

''The DPRK (North Korea) is ready to invite the ... delegation ofthe IAEA the moment the actual unfreezing of the frozen fund in thebank has been confirmed,'' the director of its General Department ofAtomic Energy wrote in a letter to IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei, theNorth's official KCNA news agency said.

The reclusive state committed in February to start shutting itsSoviet-era Yongbyon reactor by last Saturday in a deal that alsorequires access for International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)inspectors.

''The DPRK still remains unchanged in its will to implement theFebuary 13 agreement, but what matters is that it cannot move as theissue of frozen funds has not yet been completely settled,'' the lettersaid.

The United States has said that 25 million dollar frozen inMacau's Banco Delta Asia (BDA) for use in suspected illicit activitiesby Pyongyang has been freed and is ready to be picked up.

KCNA said ''working negotiations are now brisk between a DPRK bank and the above-said bank (BDA) to settle the issue''.

Last week, with hours to go before the deadline, North Korea saidone of its financial institutions would confirm whether the funds hadbeen freed.

High-level inter-Korean talks in Pyongyang were delayed for eighthours yesterday when the North said it would not start the meetingunless its wealthy neighbour first pledged massive rice aid.

Eventually officials from the North agreed to meet their neighbours.

Today's talks between the two Koreas went smoothly, according to pool reports. The talks end tomorrow.

North Korea, even with a good harvest, still falls about one million tonnes short of the food needed to feed to its people.

Seoul suspended regular shipments of rice aid to North Korea --typically 500,000 tonnes a year -- after Pyongyang defied internationalwarnings and test-fired missiles in July. Its first nuclear test inOctober further chilled ties.

Reuters

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