SEOUL, South Korea, April 11 — North Korea has offered to allow United Nations nuclear inspectors to enter the country for the first time in more than four years, Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico said here today after making an official visit to North Korea and meeting with senior officials there.

North Korea also offered to begin shutting down its main nuclear reactor within a day of retrieving funds that have been frozen in a Macao bank because of American financial sanctions, Mr. Richardson said.

Fulfilling those offers would resolve the North Korean regime’s long-running dispute with the United States Treasury, which has stalled American-led multinational efforts to restart talks on ending North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs.

In Macao, financial authorities announced today, with the endorsement of the Treasury Department, that the holders of accounts at the Banco Delta Asia in Macao containing some $25 million in deposits tied to North Korea were now free to withdraw or transfer the money without any conditions attached.

The move to unlock the North Korean funds is seen as a major concession by the Bush administration. In March, the administration said that it would allow the accounts to be unfrozen only on the condition that North Korea use the money for the benefit of its impoverished people and not for other purposes.

“The North Koreans made it clear that they felt that the Treasury Department had fulfilled its obligations,” Mr. Richardson said today at a news conference in Seoul. “I’m optimistic about North Korea’s willingness to return to the six-party talks and shut down the Yongbyon reactor.”

The inspectors from the United Nations-affiliated International Atomic Energy Agency could be invited back to the North as soon as this coming weekend, Mr. Richardson said.

North Korea made no official statement today, and the holders of the Macao accounts — international companies and individuals who do business with North Korea — did not comment on the developments. North Korea had previously seized upon what American officials said were mere “technical problems” in transferring the money by way of the Bank of China, as a reason to stall the nuclear disarmament talks.

The last step the North Koreans were waiting for was an official notification from the Macao bank that the money was available, Mr. Richardson said. That notification may be issued by Thursday morning.

The funds were frozen after Washington had earlier said that the Macao bank was a “primary money-laundering concern.” It said the bank served as the main conduit for introducing the proceeds from North Korean counterfeiting of American banknotes into the world financial system.

Mr. Richardson, a Democrat running for his party’s nomination for president in 2008, led a delegation that also included Victor Cha, President George W. Bush’s main policy adviser on North Korea, and Anthony Principi, a former secretary of veterans’ affairs.

The delegation’s official mission was to recover remains of American servicemen who had fought and died in the Korean War between 1950 and 1953. Earlier today, the group crossed the heavily guarded border that divides North and South Korea, completing a four-day trip to the North, and bringing with them what American officials believed were the remains of six American soldiers.

While they were in the North, the members of the delegation also pressed North Korean officials to restart the stalled nuclear disarmament process. They met with the Pyongyang regime’s main nuclear negotiator, Kim Kye Gwan, and other senior leaders .

If North Korea follows through with its offers, it will take its first concrete step toward what American officials hope will become a phased dismantling of its nuclear weapons programs, bringing North Korea’s nuclear facilities under international monitoring.

United Nations monitors were ejected from North Korea in 2002 and have not been allowed back since. In the intervening time, North Korea is thought to have reprocessed a hoard of spent nuclear fuel to extract enough plutonium for several bombs. It detonated its first nuclear-weapon test explosion last October.

“I think we have come to a very important juncture, which is, we consider this matter to be really resolved,” said Christopher Hill, a United States assistant secretary of state and Washington’s main envoy to the regional talks on North Korea, speaking today in Seoul. “Now is really an important time to get on with the ever-urgent task of denuclearization.”

Mr. Hill said he hoped that inspectors would be able to travel to North Korea “in a matter of days.”

South Korea also urged North Korea to embrace the latest gesture from Washington. the Seoul government said it was time for North Korea to return to the six-nation talks and discuss what experts say will be the much tougher issues of how to move beyond an initial shutdown and completely dismantle the North’s nuclear facilities. China, Russia and Japan are parties to the talks along with the two Koreas and the United States.

“From our point of view, the issue of Banco Delta Asia has now been resolved,” said Song Min Soon, the South Korean foreign minister. “All that could be done on this side has been done. Now it’s time for the North to do what needs to be done on its side.”

Mohamed ElBaradei, the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, visited Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, in March and met with officials there, making the first such visit by an official of the agency since 2002.

North Korea must be broke because they still keep fighting over $25 Million.

Sure, theyre poor, but it's not all about the money, it's the principle.
It's not even a handout, it's money that belongs to NK.

Why did it take so long for the US to unlock the money?!
Such incompetance.

The whole agreement almost fell cuz of a stinking 25 million dollars.

It took so long because the NKs had to inspect all of the cash to ensure it wasn't counterfeit.

wtf are you talking about?

the money came from a macao bank. why on earth would it be counterfeit?

It's the north koreans producing counterfeit superbills that can hardly be detected.

It wasn't about the 25 mil. The block on that money meant a block on nearly all of North Korea's international banking. It was crippling their ability to do business abroad, including their counterfeiting and drug running.

As for why it took so long, obviously it's because they were being stubborn about allowing inspectors in.

the north koreans wanted their money first before letting the inspectors in, which makes sense.
NK wasn't being stubborn at all; whether its 25 million or 25 thousand, it's all about the principle.

I was joking about the fact that NK counterfeits US currency, specifically the "super note." That's why the $25 million in the Macao bank account was frozen in the first place. I think the delay in getting the money back to the NK elite was due to the fact that international bankers are risk averse when it comes to getting caught between the Land of the Free and the Workers Paradise. I was being ironic.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/HA18Dg01.html

http://economistsview.typepad.com/economis..._korean_co.html

the north koreans wanted their money first before letting the inspectors in, which makes sense.
NK wasn't being stubborn at all; whether its 25 million or 25 thousand, it's all about the principle.

Actually, I must have forgot to mention it was also because they're being stubborn about not counterfeiting US $. That was the reason their accounts were blocked in the first place. I don't see why you're taking their side so vociferously.

Oh, hmmm, maybe this is why it took so long to release the cash.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/15/world/as...amp;oref=slogin