WASHINGTON, April 7 (Xinhua)-- A U.S. delegation led
by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson left Saturday for the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea (DPRK), a visit that coincides with a U.S. announcement it has
found a way to return frozen funds to Pyongyang.
During the four-day trip, Richardson and his
entourage will focus on recovering the remains of U.S. soldiers killed in the
Korean War, the State Department said Wednesday.
More than 33,000 U.S. troops were reportedly killed
in the Korean War, which began in June 1950. More than 8,100 U.S. servicemen are
still listed as missing from the Korean War.
On Friday, three days after the Pyongyang tour was
announced, the State Department said that a way had been found to transfer
frozen funds to the DPRK and that U.S. negotiator Christopher Hill would leave
for East Asia on Sunday to refocus attention on denuclearization.
"We support the release of all the funds. It is now a
matter of technical implementation," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack
said.
The DPRK, which agreed to shut down and seal the
Yongbyon nuclear facility in six-party talks in February, insisted that its25
million U.S. dollars frozen at Macao-based Banco Delta Asia (BDA) must be
returned before closing the Yongbyon nuclear reactor and starting new
negotiations.
Washington blacklisted BDA in September 2005,
effectively preventing the bank from doing any business in the United States,
after accusing it of being a money-laundering front for Pyongyang. Pyongyang
denies the U.S. charges.
WASHINGTON, April 6 (Xinhua)-- The United States said
on Friday that it supports to return the allegedly illicit funds frozen in a
Macau bank to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
"We support the release of all the funds. It is now a
matter of technical implementation," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack
told reporters, noting "We believe that we have identified a way to do that. Full story
WASHINGTON, April 4 (Xinhua) -- New Mexico Governor
Bill Richardson, who leads a private U.S. delegation to visit Pyongyang next
week, will focus narrowly on the recovery of the remains of U.S. soldiers killed
in the Korean War, the State Department said Wednesday.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told
reporters that he did not expect Richardson would raise the nuclear issues
during his April 8-11 trip. Full story
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