US ‘seeks to stifle North Korea by force’

NORTH KOREA accused the United States yesterday of seeking to stifle the communist country with plans to boost troops stationed in and near the Korean peninsula as part of a possible war against Iraq.

Pyongyang has portrayed US contingency plans to beef up forces in the western Pacific during any Iraq hostilities as actual deployments that foreshadow an attack.

“This arms build-up eloquently proves that though they pretend to seek a peaceful solution to the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula, they are, in actuality, keen to stifle the DPRK by force,” the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, referring to the country by its official name. The commander of US forces in the Pacific this year asked the Pentagon for more troops, aircraft and warships to deter any North Korean “adventure” should the US go to war with Iraq.