At the sixth round of talks, which opened March 19 in Beijing, the United States agreed to unfreeze $25 million held in accounts in China's Macao Bank, which was blocked on money laundering suspicions. But as the money transfer was delayed, North Korea's chief negotiator, Kim Kye-Gwan, left Beijing Thursday morning.
"It [the U.S.] pledged to do it [unfreeze North Korea's accounts], but the promise was not fulfilled," Alexander Losyukov told journalists on his return from Beijing, which hosted the six-party talks.
He said a date for a resumption of the sixth round of talks had yet to be scheduled.
Losyukov said the main reason behind the termination of the talks was the lack of any decision to unfreeze North Korean accounts.
The Bank of China refused Wednesday to transfer funds from North Korea's unfrozen accounts after Washington banned U.S. financial organizations from dealing with the Macao Bank.
Losyukov said the Bank of China also feared similar sanctions.
The six negotiators on North Korea include Russia, the United States, North and South Koreas, China and Japan.
Earlier Thursday, Losyukov also warned Russian banks against transferring money from the unfrozen North Korean accounts in Macao.
"Although we have not received any such requests, I would not recommend any Russian bank or organization to handle such transactions," he said.
Losyukov called on the U.S. to provide guarantees that no sanctions or restrictions would be imposed on a bank from a country involved in the mediation.
"The U.S. Administration should provide a guarantee that financial transactions involving North Korean assets will not lead to sanctions from the U.S.," he said.
Asked about the next stage for talks, which have been ongoing since August 2003, Losyukov said: "It is not necessary to convene all the delegations, instead it will more effective if the denuclearization issue was discussed by the working group."
Pyongyang returned to the table last December after conducting its first nuclear bomb test in October and subsequent U.N. sanctions. The six countries reached a breakthrough deal February 13.
