NKorea nuclear disarmament boost as funds transfer 'begins'

---

TOKYO, Jun 14 (AFP): The long-delayed transfer of blacklisted North Korean assets from a Macau bank will begin Thursday, a report said, amid hopes of resolving the dispute which has held up a nuclear disarmament deal.
Japan's Kyodo News, quoting unnamed authorities in the Chinese territory, said that procedures to transfer the funds at the Banco Delta Asia were scheduled to begin later Thursday.
The communist North, which tested an atom bomb last year, agreed in February to shut down its nuclear reactor in return for badly needed fuel aid and diplomatic benefits.
But it has refused to carry out its commitments until it receives the 25 million dollars from the Macau bank.
The money had been frozen in 2005 due to US allegations of money-laundering and counterfeiting.
Few banks were willing to handle the money for fear of sullying their own reputations.
But Russia has given permission to its banks to help transfer the funds, reportedly with the help of the US Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
There was no immediate confirmation from Macau authorities.
Christopher Hill, the top US nuclear negotiator, said Wednesday he expected a resolution "very soon" to the dispute.
China and South Korea have also sounded upbeat about resolving the banking saga. The two countries are part of the six-nation disarmament talks that reached the February deal, along with Japan, Russia, the United States and North Korea itself.
A North Korean official said Thursday that he expects developments this week in the Banco Delta Asia issue.
"Something will likely happen this week, I was told. I think it's a matter of time because they are talking about technical problems," An Kyong-ho was quoted by South Korea's Yonhap news agency as saying in Pyongyang.
An leads his country's delegation to four-day joint celebrations with South Korea of the seventh anniversary of their historic 2000 summit.
Yonhap said he was responding to remarks by his South Korean opposite number Paik Nak-chung, who expressed hope that the long-standing banking issue would soon be resolved.