A major Japanese daily says North Korea will find it almost impossible to withdraw its frozen funds from a Macau bank through other banks.

The Yomiuri Shimbun quoted an American official as saying fund withdrawal through other banks is impossible because of the U.S. Treasury Department's sanctions on Banco Delta Asia.

The daily said Pyongyang will have little choice but to directly withdraw its money from the Macau-based bank, and this will probably lead to a further delay in shutting down North Korea's nuclear facilities.

On April 18th, the U.S. Treasury Department banned the bank from conducting transactions with American financial institutions on allegations that Banco Delta Asia laundered money for North Korea.

The sanctions have virtually shut off Banco Delta Asia from global business operations.