TOKYO - A North Korean group representing survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 said on Saturday it would ask Japan to help build a hospital, Reuters quoted Kyodo news agency as saying.

The Japanese government currently only provides health care allowance to victims living in Japan, and it is difficult for survivors in North Korea to travel to Japan for treatment since the two countries have no diplomatic ties.

Jon Jong Hyok, secretary general of the Korean Atomic Bomb Victims Association for anti-nuclear peace, said the group will urge Japan to provide Korean victims the same assistance that Japanese survivors receive under Japanese law, as well as, establish a memorial monument for Koreans killed in the attacks, Kyodo said.

Jon said the association had confirmed 1,953 a-bomb victims in North Korea as of the end of February, including those who have already died.

A Japanese government mission that researched the health of victims in North Korea in March 2001 has said there were 928 living victims as of late 2000, Kyodo said.

North Korea, in late March, postponed unofficial ministerial-level talks with Japan that were meant to discuss medical support for overseas survivors of the atomic bombings.

Many Koreans suffered in the bombings because they were brought to Japan as forced labourers or were made to serve in the Japanese military.