US ready to face threat of first strike

THE United States is ready to deal with any contingencies involving North Korea, a White House spokesman said yesterday in response to new warnings

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the remarks by North Korean deputy foreign minister director Ri Pyong-gap who was quoted in Britain's Guardian newspaper as saying "preemptive attacks are not the exclusive right of the US" further isolate North Korea internationally.

But he also sought to play down their significance. "We've heard much talk from North Korea before," Mr Fleischer told reporters.