N.Korea wants talks with U.S. on crackdown - envoy

Top News Article Reuters.com

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea wants bilateral discussions with the United States over a crackdown on its finances and cannot return to nuclear talks until Washington ends sanctions, an Indonesian envoy said on Friday.

The last round of talks on ending Pyongyang's nuclear programs, which involve the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States, was held in November.
Washington, Seoul and others have stressed the financial issue is a separate issue from the six-party talks.

"They indicated to me they are willing to resume the six-party talks provided the United States lift its financial sanctions that have been applied recently to North Korea," said Nana Sutresna, an Indonesian presidential envoy who visited North Korea earlier this week.

"North Korea has said they want to meet bilaterally on this issue," he told reporters.
Sutresna met top North Korean officials including Pyongyang's number two official Kim Yong-nam.
Washington has offered to brief North Korean officials on the legal basis of its crackdown on companies it suspects of helping North Korea in activities such as counterfeiting.

North Korea has indicated that a briefing was not a high-enough level for the discussions and has sought a meeting between U.S. and North Korean envoys to the six-party talks.

A spokesman for North Korea's Foreign Ministry said in December the briefing offer amounted to "backtracking from the agreement on holding talks to find a solution to the issue."

Indonesia has long ties with North Korea and has been trying to work as a mediator between the two Koreas.