Talks on North Korea's nuclear program are deadlocked without any possibility of an agreement on dismantling the communist state's weapons, Japan's envoy said Thursday, citing the North's refusal to abandon its demand that the U.S. lift financial restrictions, AP reported. «The situation remains severe and there is no prospect for a breakthrough,» Kenichiro Sasae said after the fourth day of talks in Beijing. «North Korea's claims and its position on financial issues are very firm and inflexible and that is the biggest cause of the difficulty.» North Korea has made the U.S. financial campaign its main condition for disarming, angered by Washington's blacklisting of a Macau bank for its complicity in North Korea's alleged illegal financial activity, including counterfeiting and money laundering. The North agreed to end a 13-month boycott of the six-nation nuclear talks because the U.S. promised to discuss the issue.
