SEOUL, April 10 (UPI) -- With a weekend deadline for initial denuclearization steps just days away, prospects remained dim that North Korea would act on a nuclear disarmament agreement on schedule over a protracted dispute of a funds transfer.
Top U.S. nuclear envoy Christopher Hill, who came to Seoul on Tuesday, said he was still optimistic that the six-nation agreement on ending the North's nuclear drive could be implemented despite the tight timeline.
But Pyongyang has not budged an inch, sticking to its position that calls for a full transfer of funds frozen in a Macao bank before taking initial steps to shut down its nuclear facilities under a Feb. 13 agreement.
Under the deal, the communist North promised to shut down and seal its plutonium-producing reactor at Yongbyon and invite back U.N. nuclear inspectors within 60 days in return for energy aid and political benefits as part of the initial phase for dismantling its nuclear programs. In return, Washington accepted the North's long-standing demand that its $25 million funds frozen in Banco Delta Asia, a Macao-based bank, be released.
But the transfer has been delayed due to "technical problems." Kim Jong Il's regime has refused to take any steps toward denuclearization until all of the funds are released, raising doubts about the 60-day deadline on April 14.
"I'm hopeful we can resolve (the financial issue) in the very, very near future, at which point we can get on with the task of denuclearization," Hill told reporters upon arriving at a Seoul airport from Tokyo, where Hill met his Japanese counterpart.
"Clearly, this banking issue in Macau, which many of us had hoped we had resolved some weeks ago, still has not been finalized," Hill was quoted as saying by Seoul's Yonhap News Agency. "We've got a few more days, so let's see how we do in the next couple of days. Obviously, it's a very important week and I'd say a crucial couple of days," he said.
The U.S. envoy said the anticipated delay would not change the deadline of the second phase of the Feb. 13 agreement, which requires the North to disable its nuclear facilities before the end of the year.
Hill plans to meet his South Korean counterpart and other officials before leaving for Beijing on Thursday.
His Asian trip coincides with a rare visit to Pyongyang by Bill Richardson, the Democratic governor of the U.S. state of New Mexico, and Victor Cha, top U.S. presidential adviser on North Korea. The U.S. delegation is due to arrive in Seoul on Wednesday through the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom. Greeting the visiting U.S. delegation, North Korean officials reportedly reiterated to the U.S. delegation that the BDA-linked funds must be released first before its initial denuclearization steps.
Analysts in Seoul say the North seems to use the financial issue to drag out the process of dismantling its nuclear weapons program while enjoying economic benefits from South Korea and elsewhere.
"North Korea seems to stall the denuclearization process, while extending just gestures aimed at winning economic aid," said Hong Yong-pyo, a political science professor at Seoul's Hanyang University. "It is doubtful North Korea would abandon its nuclear drive."
