NKorea wants Russia support, offers uranium

TOKYO, Dec 3: North Korea has offered Russia exclusive rights to its natural uranium deposits in exchange for open support at the six-way talks on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons, a Japanese daily said today.

Citing Russian government sources, the Tokyo Shimbun report said Moscow and Pyongyang had been in secret talks since 2002 over a plan for Russia to import the uranium and enrich it before selling it on as nuclear fuel to China and Vietnam, in what the sources said would be a highly profitable venture.

The North Korean government has recently shown a positive attitude towards the idea, but introduced a requirement for back-up at the stalled nuclear talks, which may resume in the next few weeks.

The United States, Japan, South Korea and China are also involved in the six-way discussions aimed at persuading the North to scrap its nuclear weapons programme.

After North Korea shocked the region by conducting a nuclear test in October, the United Nations passed a resolution barring trade with Pyongyang in dangerous weapons.

Russia would therefore need to guarantee any uranium it imported from North Korea would be used for peaceful purposes, the paper said.

Russia is already a major exporter of oil and natural gas and is also seeking to position itself as an exporter of nuclear fuel, the paper said.

REUTERS