North Korea Talks Break Down Over Transfer of Money in Macau Bank

BEIJING – Chief Chinese envoy Wu Dawei said Thursday that talks on North Korea's nuclear program had broken down.

Wu was speaking after four days of talks hampered by a dispute over the transfer of North Korean funds frozen in a Macau bank, which kept North Korea away from the talks.

"This session has ended," Wu said. A statement issued by China said "the parties agreed to recess and will resume the talks at the earliest opportunity to continue to discuss and formulate an action plan for the next stage."

Japanese Foreign Ministry official said the parties had agreed to a recess.

The official, who could not be identified further due to the sensitivity of the talks, said the decision was made by members of all six parties after talks this week broke down over a dispute over the transfer of North Korean funds frozen in a Macau bank.

The decision was made after the chief nuclear envoy for North Korea flew out of Beijing.

• Monitor the nuclear showdown on the Korean Peninsula in FOXNews.com's North Korea Center.

The six-party talks were to have ended Wednesday, but were extended after Pyongyang refused to take part for two days because of problems over the transfer of North Korean funds in Macau bank.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said North Korea's chief nuclear envoy Kim Kye Gwan was likely leave Beijing later on Thursday.

Complete coverage is available in FOXNews.com's North Korea Center.