(17 Mar 2007) SHOTLIST
1. North Korean Vice Foreign Minister and six-party talks negotiator Kim Gye Gwan walking out of Beijing airport
2. Cutaway of press
3. SOUNDBITE (Korean) Kim Gye Gwan, North Korean Vice Foreign Minister and Six Party Talks Negotiator:
"It is our position that we will not stop the Yongbyon nuclear facility until the United States fully releases our funds frozen in the BDA (Banco Delta Asia) as a measure to implement the initial steps."
4. Cutaway of press
5. SOUNDBITE (Korean) Kim Gye Gwan, North Korean Vice Foreign Minister and Six Party Talks Negotiator:
" We are willing to cooperate with the United States to clarify the allegations about HEU (highly Enriched Uranium). We will clarify when they (the United States) provide evidence."
6. Cutaway of press
7. Cutaway of press
8. SOUNDBITE: (Korean) Kim Gye Gwan, North Korean Vice Foreign Minister and Six Party Talks Negotiator:
"We will have to receive representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to verify and monitor the shutdown status, but we will think about it after shutting down. It is not shut down, so there is no reason for them to come in."
9. Close up of North Korean flag on North Korean Embassy car
10. Kim getting into North Korean Embassy car
11. North Korean Embassy car driving away
STORYLINE
North Korea will not stop its nuclear activity unless the entire 25 (m) million US dollars (euro19 (m) million) of its funds frozen in a Macau bank are released, the regime's top nuclear envoy told reporters on Saturday.
Earlier this week, the United States Treasury Department ended its investigation of Banco Delta Asia, which had been blacklisted for its alleged complicity in North Korean money laundering.
The move paves the way to unfreeze a portion of the money.
However, in the first official response by North Korea to Washington's decision, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan said Pyongyang would not follow through on a 13 February agreement to close its main nuclear facility and allow UN inspectors to visit before all the funds are released.
"It is our position that we will not stop the Yongbyon nuclear facility until the United States fully releases our funds frozen in the BDA (Banco Delta Asia) as a measure to implement the initial steps," he said.
Kim arrived in Beijing on Saturday ahead of a new round of six-nation nuclear disarmament talks set to begin on Monday.
Christopher Hill, the chief American nuclear negotiator, said earlier on Saturday that he planned to brief Kim on the issue in working groups.
"I don't think BDA will be an obstacle," he said before meeting Kim. "I think we'll work that out."
The US treasury opened its investigation into the small Macau lender in September 2005.
Washington had promised to resolve the issue as part of the implementation of a landmark 13 February agreement under which North Korea agreed to shut down Yongbyon, its main nuclear reactor and processing facility, and allow UN inspectors in for verification by 14 April.
In return, North Korea would receive energy and economic assistance.
Hill also said the US plans to raise the issue of North Korea's alleged uranium enrichment programme during international nuclear talks.
North Korea has never publicly acknowledged that it has a uranium enrichment programme, but Kim indicated Pyongyang was willing to discuss the issue with Washington.
"We are willing to cooperate with the United States to clarify the allegations about HEU (Highly Enriched Uranium). We will clarify when they (the United States) provide evidence," Kim said.
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