Jet interception raises US, North Korea tensions

THE interception of a US reconnaissance plane by North Korean fighter jets heightens tension on the Korean Peninsula amid fears that the North could make nuclear bombs within months.

Lieutenant Commander Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said four North Korean fighter jets approached the US plane over the Sea of Japan on Sunday, coming as close as 50 feet.

One used its radar to identify the plane as a target, but there was no hostile fire, he said.