Most of the funds in North Korean accounts held at a Macao bank have reportedly been transferred, paving the way for Pyongyang to begin dismantling its nuclear program in line with the February 13th six-party agreement.

Macao Secretary of Economy and Finance Francis Tam told reporters Thursday that Banco Delta Asia transferred 20 million dollars out of the bank earlier the same day in accordance with the instructions of its client.

The money is likely to be transferred to a North Korean account at a private bank in Russia after being transferred to Russia’s central bank via the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Pyongyang has been refusing to honor February's nuclear dismantlement agreement until it received 25 million dollars from North Korean accounts frozen at BDA since September 2005.

Attention is now on whether the communist country will implement initial nuclear disarmament steps, which would entail inviting International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors and shutting down its nuclear facilities at Yongbyon.