U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has reiterated that U.S. financial sanctions on North Korea and Pyongyang’s nuclear standoff are two separate issues.

Speaking to reporters Thursday after talks with Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay in Washington, Rice cited that the issue of frozen North Korean accounts in Macao-based Banco Delta Asia arises from investigations on illicit North Korean activities.

She pointed out that the North had asked for a working group to examine the matter, adding that it was the appropriate track.

In terms of the six-way nuclear talks, Rice stressed that the U.S. cannot be diverted from its ultimate goal in the multilateral negotiations, the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

In an interview with Reuters, the U.S. Treasury's point man on financial intelligence and terrorism, Stuart Levey, said that what the North really wants is to re-establish banking relationships. He added that the North cannot do so until it convinces the world that it is a legitimate partner to have in the banking system.

In a speech in September, Levey said the Macao bank "actively helped North Korean agents conduct surreptitious, multi-million dollar cash deposits and withdrawals without questioning the basis of these transactions."

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