N Korea threatens to counter US arms buildup in South

The threat was issued late Saturday by the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in response to an 11 billion-dollar US plan to boost the war capability of American troops in South Korea.

The plan, disclosed last week during a trip here by US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, is part of US preparations to "ignite a war that may bring immeasurable disasters to the Korean peninsula," KCNA said.

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"Our army and people will answer the US arms buildup with a corresponding powerful deterrent force and its pre-emptive attack with a prompt retaliation to destroy it at the initial stage of war," it said.

The agency said North Korea's deterrent force would serve as a "merciless sledge-hammer to any aggressors".

"Now that what the US really seeks has become clear, the DPRK (North Korea) has the legitimate right to counter such moves."

The US plan calls for the deployment of more Patriot missiles, high-speed vessels and a light-armoured Stryker brigade that could be rapidly airlifted to reinforce the peninsula in a crisis.

The United States has already sent 24 long-range B-52 and B-1 bombers to the western Pacific island of Guam to bring them within striking range of North Korea. Six F-117A Stealth fighter-bombers have also been kept in South Korea since March.