The United States is set to conclude its investigation into North Korean accounts at the Macau-based Banco Delta Asia before the resumption of the six-way nuclear talks.

According to a source in Washington Thursday, the Treasury Department may free up around 12 million dollars in legal funds out of the total 24 million in North Korean accounts there.

The source was quick to add, however, that the exact amount of legal funds has not been confirmed and that nothing has been decided as the investigation is still ongoing.

The legal funds in the North’s account at the Macau bank are regarded to have come from the foreign-invested bank Daedong Credit Bank based in Pyongyang and British American Tobacco, which has been selling cigarettes in the communist state.

The source added that U.S. Assistant State Secretary Christopher Hill had asked China to unfreeze around seven million dollars of legal funds in Chinese banks ahead of an agreement with the North and Beijing to resume the stalled six-way nuclear talks.

Beijing froze North Korean accounts at the Macau bank last year in line with the Treasury Department's investigation into the bank for allegedly serving as a main conduit for bringing counterfeit dollars made in the North into international circulation.

The North has been calling for the U.S. to lift sanctions on the bank as a condition for returning to the nuclear discussions.