North Korea says signed debt deal with Russia

SEOUL (REUTERS) - North Korea's state news agency KCNA said on Tuesday that it and Russia had signed a deal on debts owed by Pyongyang to Moscow, although it gave no details of any of the terms.

Pyongyang is estimated to owe around US$11 billion (S$13.5 billion), racked up when North Korea was a client state of the Soviet Union.

The two countries held talks on a debt settlement earlier this year.

"A contract was signed in Moscow on readusting debt that the DPRK (North Korea) owed to the Russian Federation as a result of the loans that the former Soviet Union had offered to the DPRK," KCNA reported.