By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Envoys to six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear program were set to resume negotiations Thursday to try overcoming a dispute over frozen North Korean funds, and to press on with details on disarming Pyongyang.
The talks in Beijing were supposed to end Wednesday, but they foundered Tuesday due to a dispute over US$25 million in North Korean funds that have been frozen in a Macau bank since 2005 under pressure from the US.
The North had refused to join the talks until all its funds were released, and it appeared the negotiations would break up without any progress toward furthering a landmark Feb. 13 deal, in which Pyongyang agreed to start dismantling its nuclear facilities in exchange for energy and economic aid.
However, envoys to the talks - which include the two Koreas, the United States, Russia, China and Japan - said they had agreed to stay on in Beijing.