North Korea has asked Japan for 4 billion yen in compensation for victims of the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, government sources said Wednesday.
Pyongyang's request matches the amount Tokyo paid in support of atomic bomb victims in South Korea -- North Korea's longtime rival -- through the South Korean Red Cross Society in the early 1990s.
The sources said that North Korea has also asked Japan to build a hospital to treat survivors of the two bombings, but it was not known if this forms part of the 4 billion yen requested or in addition to it.