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The tempo of talks on ending North Korea's nuclear threat will rest on bank transfers, as Pyongyang waited on Wednesday to receive freed funds before allowing six-party disarmament talks to shift into high gear.

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The latest session that began on Monday was meant to focus on steering forward a February 13 accord calling North Korea to shut a plutonium-making reactor and accept other disarmament steps in 60 days in return for economic aid and security assurances.

North Korea has insisted it must first see US$25 million freed from a Macao bank as part of the February deal -- testing the patience of other negotiators.

The North boycotted six-party talks for over a year, blaming Macao's freezing of its accounts with Banco Delta Asia (BDA), which came soon after Pyongyang had signed a disarmament statement.

"I hope that the BDA issue will be resolved so that we can have a meeting of chief delegates today," Japanese envoy Kenichiro Sasae told reporters. "It is important for all of us to have more substantive discussions on denuclearisation."

"I believe things will go well if the BDA issue, although it is a technical one, is resolved," Sasae added. He did not say whether the North Korean funds had already been transferred.

South Korean chief envoy Chun Yung-woo said: "A major obstacle has been removed, but that doesn't mean that all the other obstacles are automatically removed," indicating there may be last-minute troubles that could delay talks.

Washington accused the Macao bank of serving as a safe harbour for North Korea's earnings from international crime, prompting Macao to freeze the accounts.

The US Treasury announced on Monday that it had banned US banks from dealing with BDA, marking the end of an inquiry into claims and so freeing Macao to release the frozen funds. 

The six-party talks bring together North and South Korea, host China, the United States, Japan and Russia, which since August 2003 have tried to reach a deal ending the North's nuclear weapons ambitions.

Pyongyang came back to the table in December, months after conducting its first nuclear test, which drew international condemnation and UN sanctions.

The focus on the bank money diverted negotiating energy from a tight agenda that includes seeking agreement on how to disable the Yongbyon reactor after it is closed and deciding on other disarmament steps the North must take to get more aid, Hill said.

"We've got to get on with the denuclearisation process," Hill said. "The issue that I'm focused on is the next step, because we've got to keep the momentum going."

Some officials sounded hopeful that the bank squall would pass on Wednesday. North Korean envoy Kim Kye-gwan was also upbeat. "It's going to go well," he told a South Korean envoy on Monday. "We're going to have a good dream tonight."

The daily JoongAng Ilbo reported on Wednesday that South Korea and the United States are proposing to send North Korea's weapons-grade plutonium overseas for disposal.

The newspaper cited a senior South Korean diplomat as saying the proposal was made last week during a working-level meeting and repeated at the six-way talks. The North has yet to respond.

Yonhap news agency reported out of Washington that when Kim Kye-gwan visited the United States earlier this month, he asked George W. Bush to send a letter to Pyongyang to show the United States was seriously interested in normalising ties.

Yonhap citied diplomatic sources as saying the United States was hesitant to respond to the proposal.