US to base more bombers near North Korea

THE United States is basing more heavy bombers near North Korea and will formally protest against the communist nation's "reckless actions" in using MiG fighters to intercept a US surveillance plane, officials said.

Shifting the military aircraft toward north-east Asia was described "as a prudent gesture to bolster our defence posture and as a deterrent" by Defence Department spokesman Lieutenant Commander Jeff Davis.

Other Pentagon officials said the deployment includes sending B-52 bombers to the US Pacific territory of Guam.

The order was issued last Friday, well before Sunday's incident in which North Korean jets came within 50 feet of a US RC-135S surveillance plane over the Sea of Japan, they said.

"These (US) moves are not aggressive in nature," Davis said. Military officials said the US was reviewing its options in light of the gravity of Sunday's incident, one of the most dangerous military provocations in a months-long standoff over North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.

Those options could include having US fighter jets escort similar flights, a senior military official said.

The United States has not suspended the flights and does not plan to, officials said. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said President Bush would consult with allies to determine the best way to protest against the incident.

He said Bush believes the North Korean stand-off can be solved through diplomacy.

"North Korea continues to engage in provocative and now reckless actions," Fleischer said.

"And North Korea engages in these actions as a way of saying, 'Pay me'. That will not happen."

During Sunday's incident, four North Korean fighters neared the Air Force plane, which was flying 150 miles off the Korean coast, the Pentagon said.

The North Korean fighters scanned the unarmed US plane with targeting radar, Davis said.

The North Korean fighters were carrying heat-seeking missiles that did not require radar locks to hit their targets, a military official said.