Negotiations on halting North Korea's nuclear program broke down

Negotiations on halting North Korea's nuclear program broke down abruptly Thursday, with the country's chief envoy to the talks flying home after a dispute over money frozen in a Macau bank could not be resolved.
Kim Kye Gwan left Beijing after refusing to take part in six-party talks to push forward a February agreement calling for North Korea to begin winding down its nuclear programs in return for energy aid and political considerations.
Kim waved to reporters at the airport but did not say anything.
China issued a statement saying the talks would take a recess but did not give a restart date.
In Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe criticized North Korea for not being constructive.
Thursday, the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan arrived in South Korea for joint military exercises
This round of talks has been dogged by troubles since it started Monday, with Pyongyang refusing to take part for two days because of problems over the transfer of $25 million in North Korean funds frozen since 2005 at Banco Delta Asia in Macau under pressure from the United States.
Banco Delta Asia was blacklisted by Washington on suspicion the funds were connected to money-laundering or counterfeiting. The North boycotted the international nuclear talks for more than a year over the issue.
U.S. officials announced this week that the money would be transferred to the North Koreans, saying it was up to the Monetary Authority of Macau, a Chinese territory, to release the funds.
China had promised to resolve the issue as quickly as possible by transferring the funds to a North Korean account at the Bank of China.
Officials said the Chinese bank held up the transfer because of worries that the money had been at the center of criminal investigations.
The six parties — the two Koreas, the United States, Russia, China and Japan — were in Beijing to discuss how to push forward the landmark deal in which Pyongyang agreed to start dismantling its nuclear facilities in exchange for energy and economic aid.
Under the deal, the North is to receive energy and economic aid and a start toward normalizing relations with the U.S. and Japan, in return for beginning the disarmament process. The regime ultimately would receive assistance equivalent to 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil if it fully discloses and dismantles all its nuclear programs.