U.S. says talks on NKorea funds end without resolution

Talks on releasing Pyongyang's funds that have held up international efforts to disarm North Korea ended in Beijing Friday without resolution, a U.S. official said, but expressed confidence a fast-approaching deadline in the disarmament process would be met.

"We believe that it is possible to meet the 60-day deadline and are working with the other parties to accomplish that goal," said Susan Stevenson, a U.S. Embassy spokeswoman in Beijing.

A dispute over the money, frozen in a Macau bank, has threatened the next step in a February agreement committing North Korea to shut down its main nuclear facility by the middle of April in return for economic aid and political concessions.