This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6469421.stm

The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Japan row threat to N Korea talks N Korea boycotts talks session
(about 5 hours later)
North Korea has accused Japan of trying to sabotage six-nation talks on its nuclear programme. Six-party talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear programme hit a snag after Pyongyang's negotiators refused to attend a meeting of chief delegates.
The comments, carried by the North's official news agency, follow tensions about the fate of Japanese citizens abducted by Pyongyang decades ago. Japanese envoy Kenichiro Sasae said the North had refused to participate until it was able to access $25m of its money that was frozen in a Macau bank.
The row threatens to overshadow the six-nation talks taking place in Beijing on a nuclear deal. The US announced on Monday that the North Korean money would be transferred from Macau to a bank in China.
The deal calls for the North's main nuclear reactor to be shut down and sealed in return for fuel aid. Unblocking its assets was a key demand for the North in a recent nuclear deal.
The aim of the three-day meeting is to chart the progress towards a 60-day deadline for Pyongyang to shut down its Yongbyon reactor - part of the 13 February agreement. The agreement, reached on 13 February, calls for the North's main nuclear reactor, Yongbyon, to be "shut down and sealed" in return for fuel aid.
But Tuesday's session was under threat after North Korea reportedly boycotted a meeting of the chief delegates over another issue that threatens the deal - the lifting of a freeze on its assets in a Macau bank. The six nations involved in the deal - the two Koreas, China, the US, Russia and Japan - are meeting in Beijing to discuss progress towards a 60-day deadline for Pyongyang to shut down Yongbyon.
US inquiry
Earlier on Tuesday, China reported "good progress", saying the North indicated it was ready to shut down its nuclear reactor and allow UN inspectors back.
But the host country was forced to cancel an afternoon meeting of the six top envoys after North Korea refused to attend.
N KOREA NUCLEAR DEAL N Korea to 'shut down and seal' Yongbyon reactor, then disable all nuclear facilitiesIn return, will be given 1m tonnes of heavy fuel oilN Korea to invite IAEA back to monitor dealUnder earlier 2005 deal, N Korea agreed to end nuclear programme and return to non-proliferation treatyN Korea's demand for light water reactor to be discussed at "appropriate time" End of confrontation? Q&A: Nuclear standoffN KOREA NUCLEAR DEAL N Korea to 'shut down and seal' Yongbyon reactor, then disable all nuclear facilitiesIn return, will be given 1m tonnes of heavy fuel oilN Korea to invite IAEA back to monitor dealUnder earlier 2005 deal, N Korea agreed to end nuclear programme and return to non-proliferation treatyN Korea's demand for light water reactor to be discussed at "appropriate time" End of confrontation? Q&A: Nuclear standoff
On Monday, the US said that $25m of North Korean money frozen in a Macau bank over money-laundering charges would soon be released to Pyongyang - one of the North's key demands. Mr Sasae said it appeared the North delegates were staying away until the promised transfer of the country's $25m had been made.
But Japan's chief envoy Kenichiro Sasae said it appeared Pyongyang would not progress further with the talks until the transfer had happened.
"According to China, North Korea said they will not come to join further discussions until they confirm that their money got into their bank account in China," he said."According to China, North Korea said they will not come to join further discussions until they confirm that their money got into their bank account in China," he said.
Next phase But envoys from other countries played down the issue, insisting the money problem would be worked out soon.
US chief nuclear envoy Christopher Hill said earlier on Tuesday that the aim of the talks was "to meet all the 60-day milestones". "Tomorrow, we anticipate there will be main six-way talks in the morning," South Korea's deputy chief envoy, Lim Sung-nam, said.
"That's why we're here - to review that, and we'll be doing that today," he told reporters. North Korea's assets were frozen in September 2005 after the US blacklisted Macau-based Banco Delta Asia (BDA), accusing it of acting as a conduit for money earned by Pyongyang from counterfeit currency and drug smuggling.
This latest round of talks, which end on Wednesday, is also due to look beyond this deadline into the next phase of disarmament. After the US ended its inquiry into the bank last week, US Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Daniel Glaser said the money in North Korea's accounts would be transferred from the BDA to a Bank of China account in Beijing for Pyongyang to access.
There are many thorny issues ahead, especially surrounding claims that the North might have a secret uranium enrichment programme in addition to the plutonium-based programme at Yongbyon. Abduction issue
The North denies such claims, but Mr Hill has made it clear that Pyongyang needs to confess to such technology if it exists. Meanwhile, another issue that has threatened to overshadow the talks is tension between North Korea and Japan.
Japan-N Korea tensions On Tuesday, the North's official KCNA news agency accused Tokyo of seeking to sabotage the talks by repeatedly bringing up the topic of Japanese abductees - an issue which Japan insists is its first priority in building relations with Pyongyang.
As part of the 13 February agreement, the North is expected to set up formal relations with all six nations involved in the talks, and has held a series of bilateral meetings to help achieve this. A day earlier, the North's main nuclear envoy even questioned Japan's qualifications to remain a member of the six-nation talks.
We can now move on, said chief US negotiator Christopher HillBut reducing tensions with Japan is proving difficult. The two nations cut short recent bilateral negotiations in Hanoi, as neither side was prepared to give ground. The two sides held face-to-face talks in Hanoi recently as part of a series of bilateral meetings, agreed under the 13 February deal, to help the North set up formal relations with the other five nations.
"Frankly, I felt that there could have been more done in the Japan-DPRK working group, and I really feel that the DPRK... ought to be looking to build a relationship with Japan," Mr Hill told reporters. But the Japanese-North Korean talks were cut short as neither side showed a willingness to give ground.
"Frankly, I felt that there could have been more done in the Japan-DPRK working group, and I really feel that the DPRK... ought to be looking to build a relationship with Japan," US negotiator Christopher Hill told reporters.
But the North hit back, blaming the breakdown of bilateral talks on "the right-wing forces of Japan who do not want the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and the normalisation of the bilateral relations."But the North hit back, blaming the breakdown of bilateral talks on "the right-wing forces of Japan who do not want the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and the normalisation of the bilateral relations."
On Monday, Pyongyang's main nuclear envoy even questioned Japan's qualifications to remain a member of the six-nation talks.
Now the North's official KCNA news agency has accused Tokyo of seeking to scuttle the talks by repeatedly bringing up the topic of Japanese abductees - an issue which Japan insists is its first priority in building relations with Pyongyang.
Tokyo believes the North is not being honest about the fate of its citizens who were abducted in the 1970s and 1980s to train North Korean spies.Tokyo believes the North is not being honest about the fate of its citizens who were abducted in the 1970s and 1980s to train North Korean spies.
The North has admitted abducting 13 Japanese citizens, and has returned five of them, but insists the others are dead - a claim Japan refuses to accept.The North has admitted abducting 13 Japanese citizens, and has returned five of them, but insists the others are dead - a claim Japan refuses to accept.
Tokyo says it will not contribute energy assistance to the North - provided for under last month's six-party deal - until the issue is resolved.Tokyo says it will not contribute energy assistance to the North - provided for under last month's six-party deal - until the issue is resolved.
But in Tuesday's statement, the North said this was an empty threat.But in Tuesday's statement, the North said this was an empty threat.