SEOUL, March 10 (Yonhap) -- The Associated Press (AP), one of the main news agencies in the U.S., has asked North Korean authorities to help it open a bureau in Pyongyang, a news report claimed Thursday.

   Itar-Tass, a Russian news agency, reported from the North Korean capital that a delegation for AP, headed by its president and CEO Thomas Curley, made the request during its ongoing visit to Pyongyang.

   Citing an informed Korean source, Itar-Tass reported that the AP delegation said opening a Pyongyang bureau "would make it possible to create in the United States an objective and truthful picture of events" taking place in the communist regime.

   "However, there is no clarity so far on the issue of opening of the AP office," the source was quoted as saying.

   North Korea's state media reported briefly on Tuesday of the arrival of the AP delegation, but didn't elaborate on why AP was visiting and how long its delegation would stay.

   A source in Seoul had earlier told Yonhap News Agency that Curley is scheduled to stay in Pyongyang until Friday and his visit may be aimed at trying to set up a news bureau in the reclusive state.

   Among foreign news agencies, only Itar-Tass and China's Xinhua have bureaus in Pyongyang, while a journalist from the People's Daily newspaper of China is also based there.

   Itar-Tass on Thursday said officials from Reuters, the London-based news agency, also visited Pyongyang earlier with a similar request.

   AP Television News, the international video division of AP, opened a full-time office in Pyongyang in 2006, making it the first Western news organization to establish a permanent presence in North Korea. The Pyongyang office of APTN currently provides only video images.

  (END)