The Chosun Shinbo said in a report datelined Pyongyang that the North has promoted its national resource development agency as part of efforts to launch a rare earth development project in a full scale, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.
According to resource development senior officials, the amount of rare earth buried in the North amounts to approximately 20 million tonnes.
Estimates on the amount could rise if the current digging work finds new burial grounds or more elements deeper in existing sites, said the Tokyo-based paper, which serves as a channel for Pyongyang to deliver messages.
So far, no exact amount of rare earth deposits in the reclusive communist nation has been confirmed. The largest burial deposit was discovered in North Pyeongan Province, the paper said, while the rest of the elements were distributed in the southern and northern parts of the nation.
The North is working on using the rare earth minerals in manufacturing industries and is considering joint projects with other nations, Kim Heung-joo, a vice chief of the state-run resource development agency, was quoted as saying by the paper.
The government will put limits on its output and exports of rare earth materials, Kim added.
Rare earth minerals are compounds of rare earth metals, including cerium and neodymium, which are used as a crucial element in semiconductors, cars, computers and other advanced technology areas. Some types of rare earth materials can be used to build missiles.
