Posted on 03/13/2003 2:21:55 PM PST by vannrox
Stealth fighters sent to SKorea
The United States will boost its arsenal on the Korean peninsula with at least six stealth F-117A fighters, although Washington denies the deployment is part of an action designed to deter North Korean aggression.
US officials maintain that the fighters will arrive in South Korea to take part in military exercises with South Korean forces.
Described by the US as a "routine" deployment, the radar-avoiding fighters will be based at the Kun San air base in South Korea, taking part in the US-South Korean "Foal Eagle" exercises that end on April 2.
Yet the arrival of the fighters on the peninsula - the first such deployment in a decade - comes at a critical time in the crisis over North Korea's nuclear arms program.
The fighters, used in the Gulf War, could be perceived by Pyongyang as further evidence of a US military build-up against it.
"These defensive exercises are not related to current world events and are not meant to be aggressive or threatening," said US Air Force Staff Sergeant Aaron Cram, from the 49th Fighter Wing at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, where the fighters are based.
The US has already deployed 24 long-range bombers to its air base on Guam, a move that Washington described as a deterrence against North Korea.
On Guam, an island to the south-east of the Korean peninsula, the 12 B-52s and 12 B-1s are within easy range of North Korea.
With the US poised to attack Iraq, Washington deployed the long-range bombers to deter any possible aggressive action by North Korea.
North Korea maintains the heavy bombers have been deployed as part of US plans for a pre-emptive strike, particularly should North Korea restart its reprocessing plant at the Yongbyon nuclear reactor to make plutonium for nuclear weapons.
The heavy bombers were flown during exercises over Guam on Monday, the same day North Korea test-fired a Cruise missile into the Sea of Japan (the second test in two weeks) in another attempt to force Washington into direct talks on the crisis.
According to US intelligence officials, North Korea is expected to give advance warnings, possibly as early as today, of its third missile test in recent weeks.
The Bush Administration is refusing to agree to direct talks with North Korea, instead pushing for talks involving regional countries including China, Russia, Japan and South Korea.
- with agencies
This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/03/12/1047431095045.html
By Shane Green
Tokyo
March 13 2003
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