A Japanese daily reports that North Korea has used its accounts at a Macau-based bank to pay for devices that could be used in manufacturing nukes or other weapons of mass destruction.

Quoting unidentified sources, Yomiuri Shimbun said China froze North Korean accounts totaling to around 24 million dollars at the Banco Delta Asia (BDA) in Macau last year.

The Tokyo-based daily said North Korea opened an account at the BDA to pay a Japanese company for a freeze dryer in 2002, which seemed to be used for manufacturing biological weapons.

The paper also reported that in 2003, an electric power supply unit, that could be used in the process of enriching uranium, an essential element in developing high-powered nuclear weapons, was sold to North Korea by another Japanese company for 1.98 million yen, which was paid for from an account at the BDA held by a North Korean company.

The newspaper said the latest revelation has shown the Banco Delta Asia account was used to pay for the purchase of more weapons-related equipment from Japan.

The BDA issue is expected to be one of the biggest stumbling blocks in the multinational negotiations over the North's nuclear programs.

North Korea wants the U.S. to unfreeze its assets held at the Macau bank in return for the North's concessions on its nuclear programs, but the U.S. has given no indication that it will take immediate action on the Banco Delta Asia case.