US considers sending carrier to Korea coast

The US is considering sending an aircraft carrier to the waters off the coast of the Korean peninsula as a show of force amid the developing nuclear crisis with the North.

Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld also is planning to add more air force presence in the region as a message to Pyongyang that while the Bush administration focuses on a possible war in Iraq it is still capable of blunting any North Korean attack, one official said on condition of anonymity.