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.
The United States is ready to discuss the situation with Macau authorities "and other interested parties as they work to implement that decision" on transferring the money, McCormack said. The spokesman did not provide more details.
The United States on March 19 agreed to transfer DPRK's 25 million U.S. dollars frozen at Macao-based Banco Delta Asia (BDA) to a DPRK account at the Bank of China in Beijing.
However, U.S. officials was reportedly to have suggested privately that some of the 25 million dollars held in the blacklisted Banco Delta Asia might be tainted and not released.
The DPRK, which agreed to shut down and seal the Yongbyon nuclear facility at six-party talks in February, insisted that resolving the BDA frozen fund issue is a prerequisite for starting other negotiations.