N. Korea can access accounts, U.S. says

WASHINGTON — A financial deadlock stalling North Korean disarmament efforts has been broken, the United States said Tuesday, hinting that a looming deadline for action by the Pyongyang government could be extended. With just days to go before a weekend deadline for North Korea to shut down its main nuclear facility, the State Department said a stalemate over the release of $25 million in frozen North Korean bank accounts had been broken.

“Authorized account holders, as of now, will be able to access the funds in those accounts,” department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters. “We’ll see if they take ‘yes’ for an answer.”

McCormack cited comments from authorities in the Chinese territory of Macao where the money is held by the Banco Delta Asia, which has been blacklisted by Washington for allegedly helping North Korea launder money.

Macao’s Monetary Authority said the holders of North Korean accounts could withdraw or transfer their money.

Pyongyang had insisted the money be released before it would close its Yongbyon nuclear reactor as required by a February agreement.

Under that deal, the North has until Saturday to close the nuclear plant. McCormack acknowledged that closing and sealing the plant in four days might pose safety problems, suggesting a possible extension.

“We are now bumping up against the technical ability to safely shut down all the facilities related to Yongbyon,” McCormack said.

If North Korea follows through, it would be the first move the communist state has made to scale back its nuclear development since it kicked out international inspectors and in 2003 restarted its sole operating nuclear reactor. It tested a nuclear device last October.