Seoul, South Korea – Money at the heart of a dispute that caused North Korea to delay its nuclear disarmament finally began making its way to the communist nation Thursday after months of delay.
The transfer of funds previously frozen in a Macau bank could lead North Korea to start shutting down its nuclear-weapons program. But the North is certain to want to count every last penny of its $25 million before fulfilling a February pledge to stop making atomic bombs.
The money had been frozen at Macau’s Banco Delta Asia since 2005, when the U.S. blacklisted the bank for allegedly helping the Pyongyang regime pass fake $100 bills and launder money from weapons sales.
The North made the money’s release its main condition for disarmament and boycotted international nuclear talks for more than a year, during which it conducted its first-ever bomb test in October.
But to win the North’s promise to start dismantling its nuclear program, the U.S. agreed to give its blessing for the money to be freed and said it would happen within 30 days. The transfer has instead taken more than four months as the North insisted that it be sent electronically to another bank, apparently to prove the money is now clean.
Macau’s secretary of economy and finance said Thursday that the money has been transferred, but it remained unclear if it was the entire amount or whether it had reached its destination.
North Korea could seize on any shortage of funds to hold off on disarmament. Since the latest nuclear standoff began in late 2002, Pyongyang has repeatedly displayed its profound lack of trust of the U.S. and blamed any sign of American hostility as a reason to stall arms talks.
Given that Washington failed in its promise to resolve the bank dispute within 30 days, the North can also be expected to delay shutting down its nuclear reactor for at least another 30 days.
