NEWS ASIA-PACIFIC N Korea stalls disarmament talks Hill, left, was greeted by Ri Gun, right, the foreign affairs minister, upon his arrival in Pyongyang [AFP] A US nuclear envoy has made a surprise trip to North Korea only to be informed that nuclear plant shutdown talks are on hold until Pyongyang receives funds withheld over financial irregularities. Christopher Hill arrived in Pyongyang , days after the East Asian country indicated it would move to shut its Yongbyon nuclear reactor. North Korea refused to shutdown the plant until $25m frozen at Macau 's Banco Delta Asia was released with US help. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had planned to visit Pyongyang next week but the visit is lkely to be stalled over the transaction. Your Views "How can a country possibly give up it own deterrence?" Lebambi, Harare, Zimbabwe Send us your views
Hyon Yong Man, a counsellor at Pyongyang 's embassy in Vienna , where the IAEA is based, said that $25m in frozen North Korean funds that were expected to reach a North Korean account in Russia had not yet arrived, contradicting previous reports. Hyon Yong Man, a counsellor at's embassy in, where the IAEA is based, said that $25m in frozen North Korean funds that were expected to reach a North Korean account inhad not yet arrived, contradicting previous reports. "As of now, the frozen funds had not reached our bank account. Nobody knows why the remittance is delayed," he said. "Our side has informed the IAEA that we have no objection to them preparing the visit as a plan, but we are not ready to give our official confirmation for the visit as scheduled by the agency." Funds transfer A Russian diplomatic source meanwhile said the release of the frozen funds to North Korea will be completed by Friday, . "It will be completed by June 22, this Friday," the source said, according to Itar Tass news agency on Thursday. Hill had said that six-country talks on the deal, under which the impoverished country would receive hundreds of millions of dollars in aid, would likely resume in early July. "We hope that we can make up for some of the time that we lost this spring and we are looking forward to good discussions about that," South Korean broadcaster YTN showed Hill saying upon arrival in Pyongyang . Hill is the most senior US state department official to visit North Korea since October 2002, when James Kelly, the former US envoy, confronted Pyongyang with evidence that Washington said pointed to a covert uranium enrichment programme. Hill will stay in Pyongyang until Friday and meet his North Korean counterpart, Kim Kye-gwan, the vice-foreign minister, a US state department spokesman said. On Saturday, North Korea , which conducted its first nuclear test last October, had said it would re-admit inspectors from the IAEA as required under the accord clinched in Beijing on February 13. Source: Agencies
After , the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. met with North Korean (DPRK) diplomats on Thursday, the country decided not to give  (IAEA) inspectors permission to enter the country, claiming that the $25,000,000 remitted to them has not yet arrived.

"As of now, the frozen funds had not reached our bank account. Nobody knows why the remittance is delayed. Our side has informed the IAEA that we have no objection to them preparing the visit as a plan, but we are not ready to give our official confirmation for the visit as scheduled by the agency," said counsellor Hyon Yong at North Korea's embassy located in .

The money is believed to still be in the possession of the  of Russia, which received control of the funds after they were transferred via the United States Federal Reserve System to Macau's Banco Delta Asia. Russian officials state that the funds transfer was to "be completed by today," but as of now the funds have not yet arrived to N. Korea.

Earlier this week North Korea invited IAEA inspectors into the country to monitor the shutting down of their nuclear reactor located in Yongbyon.