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N Korea offers Moscow uranium to win support

North Korea has offered Russia exclusive rights to its natural uranium deposits in exchange for support at the stalled talks on dismantling Pyongyang's nuclear program, a news report said yesterday.

The two countries have been in talks since 2002 over a deal for Russia to import uranium, which it has planned to enrich and sell as nuclear fuel to China and Vietnam, according to a report in the Tokyo Shimbun.

The mass-circulation Yomiuri Shimbun carried a similar report.

Pyongyang recently offered Moscow exclusive rights to the uranium in exchange for open support at the six-party talks, which have been stalled since last year, the report said, citing unnamed Russian officials.

A uranium deal with North Korea would be part of an overall push by Russia -- which already exports natural gas and oil -- to become a major exporter of nuclear fuel, according to the report.

Negotiations between Russia and North Korea were set to continue, the report added.

North Korea is thought to have several uranium deposits across the country. Moscow hopes to use the uranium to produce nuclear fuel, which it would then export to reactors it has helped to build in China and Vietnam, the report said.

The Russian Embassy in Tokyo declined repeated requests for comment, while officials at Japan's Foreign Ministry were unavailable for comment.

Pyongyang tested a nuclear weapon for the first time on Oct. 9. The UN quickly sanctioned the regime, banning member states from trading in weapons-related technology with the North.
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