Tokyo - North Korea became a renewed focus of fears about the spread of nuclear weapons yesterday when a major Japanese newspaper said officials in Japan believe the communist nation has at least one atomic device.
The report came on the heels of deepening concern among Japanese officials that North Korea could get assistance from Pakistan that would help it develop nuclear weapons. Japan's Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper said an internal Japanese Defence Agency report said nuclear tests by India and Pakistan had smoothed the way for Pyongyang to develop its nuclear technology.