U.S. delegation departs for DPRK http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-04/08/content_5948122.htm
2007-04-08
·The four-day trip will focus on recovering the remains of U.S. soldiers killed in the Korean War. ·More than 33,000 U.S. troops were reportedly killed in the Korean War in 1950. ·U.S. State Department said a way had been found to transfer frozen funds to the DPRK.
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.
Related:
U.S. supports release of all DPRK frozen funds
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
DPRK trip by U.S. Governor only focuses on MIA issue
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.
Editor: Song Shutao
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