DPRK starts to transfer $25m funds: Japan media

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has begun transferring some of its funds from Macao to an unnamed bank in Southeast Asia, a major Japanese newspaper reported yesterday, potentially clearing the way for Pyongyang to fulfill its obligations for nuclear disarmament.

Pyongyang missed a Saturday deadline to shut down its main reactor, as agreed under a February deal with the US and four other countries, citing the failure to release its funds at Macao-based Banco Delta Asia (BDA).

The DPRK had made shutting down the reactor contingent on the release of the money, which was frozen after the US blacklisted BDA where the DPRK had 52 accounts allegedly linked to money laundering and counterfeiting.