Hill talks about NKorea with Chinese

BEIJING — Talks between China and the U.S. on how to resolve a financial dispute that is stalling North Korea's nuclear disarmament have ended without result, with the American envoy appealing Thursday for more action from Pyongyang.

Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill met twice with Chinese nuclear envoy Wu Dawei on Wednesday to discuss ways to resolve a financial dispute involving North Korean funds that were earlier frozen in a Macau bank.

The bank, Banco Delta Asia, is accused by the U.S. of aiding Pyongyang in money laundering and counterfeiting

Hill said he had "useful exchanges" with Wu but that he had "no news" to announce. He urged Pyongyang to start shutting down their nuclear reactor even before receiving their funds.

The North has made the resolution of the banking dispute an absolute precondition for nuclear disarmament.

"I think we have established that we are really working to resolve this matter and will resolve it ... Rather than standing around waiting for us to do things, they should get going on their own obligations," Hill said. "There is no purpose in that reactor operating today."

Hill said Wednesday he exchanged ideas with Wu on ways to resolve the matter but wouldn't give specific details.

The U.S. helped unfreeze the $25 million being held in Banco Delta Asia, but the money's transfer has been delayed because foreign banks are unwilling to touch the funds.

Pyongyang boycotted international negotiations for more than a year over the release of the funds, and conducted a nuclear test in October. Last week, it launched at least one short-range missile into coastal waters — a move played down by Seoul and Washington as part of the North's regular military drills.

Hill on Wednesday rejected a suggestion that the six-party disarmament dialogue, which has been stalled since February, was over.

"It's certainly not dead," he said. "Certainly we have a pretty serious bump in the road here, we plan to get over it ... It really is a technical matter which cannot just be solved through political means."

Meanwhile in Seoul, U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Alexander Vershbow said Wednesday that Washington was "prepared to move forward toward the establishment of normal relations with the DPRK," using the abbreviation of the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

In February, the U.S. agreed as part of the pact to enter talks with North Korea aimed at normalizing relations and putting aside the hostility that has lingered since they fought each other in the 1950-53 Korean War. The conflict ended in a cease-fire that has never been replaced by a peace treaty.

"We're ready to begin the process of removing North Korea from the list of state sponsors of terrorism and from the application of the Trading with the Enemy Act," Vershbow said at a symposium.

"But progress on all these tracks depends on achieving the complete elimination of North Korea's nuclear weapons and nuclear programs," he said. "We are not ready to settle for a partial solution. It is only with complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization that we can contemplate the full normalization of relations."