Kim Kye-Gwan, top negotiator of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), arrived in Beijing Saturday morning for the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.

 

The DPRK would not shut down the Yongbyon nuclear reactor if the US did not first lift financial bans on DPRK accounts in the Banco Delta Asia (BDA), a Macao-based bank, Kim told reporters upon his arrival in Beijing for a new session of the six-party talks scheduled to open on Monday.

 

Kim, DPRK's vice foreign minister, said the DPRK has not received any notification regarding the lifting of financial sanctions yet.

 

He said it is "unnecessary" for the DPRK and the US to set up liaison offices. Concerning the HEU (Highly Enriched Uranium) issue, the DPRK is willing to cooperate with the US, and the DPRK would like to explain if the US side provides evidence, Kim said.

 

The US Treasury Department announced on Wednesday a plan to resolve the financial dispute with the DPRK by formally barring US financial institutions from dealing with the BDA.

 

The US slapped sanctions on the BDA in 2005 and put it on a money-laundering blacklist, prompting Macao to freeze the US$24 million believed to belong to the DPRK. In return, the DPRK boycotted the subsequent six-party talks for more than one year.

 

As part of the nuclear deal reached during the six-party talks in Beijing on February 13, the US agreed to settle the financial dispute with the DPRK within 30 days. The US has accused the DPRK of using the bank to launder illegal earnings and the DPRK has urged the US to lift the sanctions.

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 17, 2007)