Security

North Koreans Want Their Money

Well, this will be a fun one to keep to keep an eye on over the next week or so. Will the North Koreans come back to the nuclear talks, or won’t they? As the Guardian today reports on the on-again, off again nuke talks with North Korea: North Korean negotiators walked out of nuclear […]

Well, this will be a fun one to keep to keep an eye on over the next week or so. Will the North Koreans come back to the nuclear talks, or won't they? As the Guardian today reports on the on-again, off again nuke talks with North Korea:

Cash_stack

*North Korean negotiators walked out of nuclear disarmament talks today, leaving no prospect of a return unless $25m (£12.7m) of frozen funds are remitted into their country's bank accounts. *

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*The sudden breakdown, which was blamed on bank paperwork and broken financial promises, is the latest hitch in a stop-start process aimed at easing one of the world's last cold war conflicts. *

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Hopes for a resolution rose last month when North Korea agreed to shut its nuclear reactor in return for energy aid from the US and South Korea.

But my favorite quote of the day comes from heartthrob negotiator (as least in Asia) Christopher Hill, who says "The day I'm able to explain to you North Korean thinking is probably the day I've been in this process too long."