N.Korean MiGs Intercept U.S. Air Force Plane
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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030303/wl_nm/korea_north_usa_dc_6
N.Korean MiGs Intercept U.S. Air Force Plane
1 hour, 49 minutes ago
By Charles Aldinger
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Four North Korean fighter jets intercepted a U.S. Air Force reconnaissance plane in international airspace over the Sea of Japan on Sunday and came within 50 feet of the big American jet while shadowing it, the Pentagon (news - web sites) said on Monday.
Two advanced MiG-29 fighters and two others believed to be MiG-23s intercepted the sophisticated four-engine RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft 150 miles off the coast of North Korea (news - web sites) and shadowed the American jet for about 20 minutes, said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman.
"The closest point they came was within 50 feet" of the RC-135, he said, adding the Air Force plane was on a routine reconnaissance mission at the time.
Senior U.S. officials said Washington would formally protest the incident, once the best means for such a move had been determined. North Korea and the United States do not have diplomatic relations.
"This will be formally protested. This is particularly provocative and has the potential to frighten our allies even more than previous provocations," said a senior Bush administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Another official said the United States was in "close consultation" with South Korea (news - web sites) and other allies about the incident and how to lodge a protest.
Pentagon spokesman Davis initially said one of the North Korean jets, which were armed, had locked on to the RC-135 with its fire-control radar, but later said that was not certain and the Defense Department was checking tapes of the incident.
He said the jet had used its "acquisition radar" on the RC-135, but the Pentagon was not sure the more threatening radar used to direct missiles had been turned on.
Davis said he had no indication that U.S. fighter jets were called to protect the reconnaissance plane before it returned to its home base at Kadena Air Base in Japan.
The incident came as tension continued to rise on the Korean peninsula over the North's suspected nuclear arms ambitions, and as the United States builds up military forces in the Gulf in preparation for a possible invasion of Iraq (news - web sites).
A North Korean fighter jet also flew briefly into South Korean airspace last week.
SPY FLIGHTS
North Korea on Saturday accused the United States of stepping up spy flights as a preparation for war as South Korea's new president vowed to work for a swift, peaceful end to the nuclear crisis on the peninsula.
Pyongyang had earlier complained that a U.S. RC-135 aircraft had been flying repeated sorties inside its airspace.
The interception incident occurred on Sunday Korean time and at about 8:48 p.m. EST on Saturday, said Davis.
He told reporters it was the first known such interception incident involving North Korean and U.S. aircraft since North Korean jets shot down an American reconnaissance plane in international airspace in 1969, killing 31 people aboard.
The RC-135 is an updated spy version of the venerable old Boeing Co. 707 commercial jet and is packed with sophisticated electronic gear. Known by the Pentagon as "Rivet Joint," the aircraft is capable of tracking troop and other military movements on the ground hundreds of miles away.
Tension over North Korea's suspected nuclear weapons plans rose recently after Washington, citing satellite photographs, said North Korean scientists had fired up a reactor mothballed since 1994 at the Yongbyon complex north of Pyongyang. -
Like the time the PRC guys intercepted the spy plane.. except this time it's in International Airspace.
I wonder what the heck N Korea is up to? With their accursed nukes and stuff.. and they can't even feed their hungry...
All the time, the stupid lea-duh is trying his damnest to cultivate a cult of personality for his dynasty. -
The personality cult was built for Kim Jung Ill's father, Kim Ill Sung, not the Kim Jung Ill himself, thats why he had a bit of problem in when he took over at first. . .
Anyway, the US air force plane was flying in international airspace, NOT in N Korean airspace, if the N Koreans shoot the thing down, it'll be an act of war by an aggressor state, the American public will demand payment in blood, and only help the US govt launch an invasion into N Korea. . . so I doubt the N Koreans will actually shoot the US planes down in int'l airspace. .
my two cents -
I think PRK Army is desperate for high-tech technology, so they tried to force the US recon plane in North Korean airspace then...
Look at their dirty finger-nail MIGS 23. They're obsolete... MIG 29 is relatively modern but definitely not well maintained... Many of their planes could be grounded... -
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030304/ap_on_re_as/koreas_us_16
Intercept Raises U.S.-N. Korea Tensions
Tue Mar 4, 7:15 AM ET
By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA, Associated Press Writer
SEOUL, South Korea - The interception of a U.S. reconnaissance plane by North Korean fighter jets heightens tension on the Korean Peninsula amid fears that the North could make nuclear bombs within months.
Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon (news - web sites) spokesman, said four North Korean fighter jets approached the U.S. plane over the Sea of Japan on Sunday, coming as close as 50 feet. One used its radar to identify the plane as a target, but there was no hostile fire, he said.
Davis said it was the first such incident since April 1969 when a North Korean plane shot down a U.S. Navy (news - web sites) EC-121 surveillance plane, killing all 31 Americans aboard.
In an interview with 14 U.S. newspapers, President Bush (news - web sites) repeated the U.S. stance that the situation can be resolved with diplomacy. According to The Baltimore Sun, Bush said that while the military option has not been taken off the table, it would be a last resort in dealing with the country's moves toward nuclear weapons production.
Asked how successful diplomatic efforts have been, Bush said: "It's in process. If they don't work diplomatically, they'll have to work militarily. And military option is our last choice. Options are on the table, but I believe we can deal with this diplomatically. I truly do."
The interception fit a pattern of recent North Korean actions that could be an effort to pressure the United States into negotiations on chief Northern aims: a nonaggression treaty and aid for its dilapidated economy.
"Ever since the nuclear issue surfaced, North Korea (news - web sites) has been taking steps to increase tension and to show its hostility," said Lee Suk-soo, a military studies professor at the National Defense College in Seoul.
"The reckless move is a signal to the United States at a time when Washington pays little attention to North Korea's repeated demand for direct dialogue," he said.
North Korea did not comment on the plane incident. Its state-run media instead criticized annual U.S.-South Korean military exercises that began Tuesday, saying they were preparation for an attack. The "Foal Eagle" exercise, which has been held since 1961, ends April 2.
"This Foal Eagle exercise is escalating the danger of armed clashes on the Korean Peninsula," said Minju Joson, a North Korean newspaper.
"If the eagle swoops down on us, a nuclear war will break out and it is clear that the whole Korean nation will not escape nuclear holocaust," said the report, which was monitored by South Korea (news - web sites)'s Yonhap news agency.
North Korea officials have repeatedly condemned the exercises with strong rhetoric.
North Korea on Tuesday reiterated its demand for a nonaggression pact, saying through Radio Pyongyang that it was "to remove unreasonable U.S. threat, not to gain something." The radio was monitored by Yonhap.
U.S. military officials say the annual maneuver is "defense-oriented" and is not related to the nuclear dispute.
Washington, which is preparing for a possible war against Iraq (news - web sites), says it will not be blackmailed into concessions and that North Korea's efforts to develop nuclear weapons are a multilateral issue. The U.N. Security Council is expected to debate the matter.
North Korea test-fired a missile into the sea off its east coast on the eve of South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun's inauguration last week.
On Feb. 20, a North Korean MiG-19 warplane crossed over the South's western sea border, but quickly retreated after South Korean jets flew to the area.
Last week, U.S. officials said North Korea had restarted a nuclear reactor that is at the center of a suspected weapons program. The 5-megawatt reactor could yield enough plutonium for an atomic bomb in about a year, experts say.
North Korea, which has warned that a U.S. attack on its nuclear facilities at Yongbyon would trigger war, could also decide to reactivate a reprocessing facility near the reactor. Such a move could allow it to make several nuclear bombs within months, according to defense analysts.
The United States believes the North already has one or two nuclear bombs.
In the Sunday incident, Davis said, the four North Korean planes "shadowed" the unarmed American plane over international waters for about 20 minutes before breaking off.
Two North Korean MiG-29 fighters and two other aircraft that Davis said appeared to be MiG-23 fighters intercepted the U.S. Air Force RC-135S reconnaissance plane, which Davis said was about 150 miles off North Korea's coast.
The closest the fighters came was about 50 feet, Davis said. He did not know how many crew members were aboard the RC-135, although the standard number is 17, including two pilots.
The U.S. plane broke off its mission and returned to its home station at Kadena Air Base in Japan, Davis said.
North Korean complaints about reconnaissance flights by U.S. planes had grown more frequent before the incident. On Saturday, the North said a U.S. RC-135 reconnaissance plane had intruded into its airspace off the east coast daily for a week. RC-135 planes are modified Boeing 707s.
The type of plane that was intercepted is loaded with electronic receivers and features large circular windows in the fuselage for the photography of foreign ballistic-missile tests at long range.
The current nuclear dispute began in October when U.S. officials said the North acknowledged it had a secret nuclear program in violation of a 1994 agreement.
Washington and its allies suspended oil shipments and North Korea responded by moving to reactivate frozen nuclear facilities and withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. -
*singing to the tune of raindrops are falling on my head* "atom bombs are dropping on my head"Originally posted by duotiga83:http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030303/wl_nm/korea_north_usa_dc_6
N.Korean MiGs Intercept U.S. Air Force Plane
1 hour, 49 minutes ago
By Charles Aldinger
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Four North Korean fighter jets intercepted a U.S. Air Force reconnaissance plane in international airspace over the Sea of Japan on Sunday and came within 50 feet of the big American jet while shadowing it, the Pentagon (news - web sites) said on Monday.
Two advanced MiG-29 fighters and two others believed to be MiG-23s intercepted the sophisticated four-engine RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft 150 miles off the coast of North Korea (news - web sites) and shadowed the American jet for about 20 minutes, said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman.
"The closest point they came was within 50 feet" of the RC-135, he said, adding the Air Force plane was on a routine reconnaissance mission at the time.
Senior U.S. officials said Washington would formally protest the incident, once the best means for such a move had been determined. North Korea and the United States do not have diplomatic relations.
"This will be formally protested. This is particularly provocative and has the potential to frighten our allies even more than previous provocations," said a senior Bush administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Another official said the United States was in "close consultation" with South Korea (news - web sites) and other allies about the incident and how to lodge a protest.
Pentagon spokesman Davis initially said one of the North Korean jets, which were armed, had locked on to the RC-135 with its fire-control radar, but later said that was not certain and the Defense Department was checking tapes of the incident.
He said the jet had used its "acquisition radar" on the RC-135, but the Pentagon was not sure the more threatening radar used to direct missiles had been turned on.
Davis said he had no indication that U.S. fighter jets were called to protect the reconnaissance plane before it returned to its home base at Kadena Air Base in Japan.
The incident came as tension continued to rise on the Korean peninsula over the North's suspected nuclear arms ambitions, and as the United States builds up military forces in the Gulf in preparation for a possible invasion of Iraq (news - web sites).
A North Korean fighter jet also flew briefly into South Korean airspace last week.
SPY FLIGHTS
North Korea on Saturday accused the United States of stepping up spy flights as a preparation for war as South Korea's new president vowed to work for a swift, peaceful end to the nuclear crisis on the peninsula.
Pyongyang had earlier complained that a U.S. RC-135 aircraft had been flying repeated sorties inside its airspace.
The interception incident occurred on Sunday Korean time and at about 8:48 p.m. EST on Saturday, said Davis.
He told reporters it was the first known such interception incident involving North Korean and U.S. aircraft since North Korean jets shot down an American reconnaissance plane in international airspace in 1969, killing 31 people aboard.
The RC-135 is an updated spy version of the venerable old Boeing Co. 707 commercial jet and is packed with sophisticated electronic gear. Known by the Pentagon as "Rivet Joint," the aircraft is capable of tracking troop and other military movements on the ground hundreds of miles away.
Tension over North Korea's suspected nuclear weapons plans rose recently after Washington, citing satellite photographs, said North Korean scientists had fired up a reactor mothballed since 1994 at the Yongbyon complex north of Pyongyang. -
`NK Missile Warhead Found in AlaskaÂ’
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200303/kt2003030417272311970.htm -
http://www.military.com/NewsContent?file=FL_planes_030503
U.S. May Use Fighter Escorts For Reconaissance Planes Over Korean Peninsula
shld have done this long ago.... 
U.S. Repositioning Bombers Near North Korea To Deter Aggression
http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_NORTH_KOREA?SITE=DCTMS&SECTION=HOME -
u all know this news?
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/03/07/1046826533281.html
Pyongyang: We'll put a torch to New York
By Shane Green, Herald Correspondent in Tokyo
March 8 2003
North Korea would launch a ballistic missile attack on the United States if Washington made a pre-emptive strike against the communist state's nuclear facility, the man described as Pyongyang's "unofficial spokesman" claimed yesterday.
Kim Myong-chol, who has links to the Stalinist regime, told reporters in Tokyo that a US strike on the nuclear facility at Yongbyon "means nuclear war".
"If American forces carry out a pre-emptive strike on the Yongbyon facility, North Korea will immediately target, carry the war to the US mainland," he said, adding that New York, Washington and Chicago would be "aflame".
A pre-emptive strike on Yongbyon is one of the strategic options in the crisis over North Korea's nuclear arms program. The US has deployed 24 long-range bombers to the Pacific base of Guam capable of launching such a strike.
Mr Kim, who has written a text studied by North Korean military leaders, predicted North Korea would restart its reprocessing plant to make weapons-grade plutonium this month.
A nuclear weapon would be produced by the end of next month, with another five by the end of the year, he said. This was on top of a suspected nuclear arsenal of 100 weapons.
The ultimate aim of North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-il, was the "neutralisation of the American factor" in the region, Mr Kim said.
This would be achieved by striking a non-aggression pact with the US or becoming an "official" nuclear power, thereby making the US nuclear umbrella in the region irrelevant. "Both ways, Kim Jong-il is a winner," Mr Kim said.
"By the end of the year, I predict Bush will be in Pyongyang suing for peace," Mr Kim said. While his comments are extreme, they match the heated and belligerent rhetoric of North Korea, which has previously warned of nuclear war and turning the cities of its enemies into a "sea of ashes".
The Bush Administration yesterday made renewed calls on China and other countries in the region to help broker a solution to the crisis. In his live televised press conference, Mr Bush said North Korea's nuclear program was a regional issue.
"I say 'regional' because there's a lot of countries that have got a direct stake into whether or not North Korea has nuclear weapons," Mr Bush said. "We've got a stake as to whether North Korea has nuclear weapons. China clearly has a stake as to whether or not North Korea has a nuclear weapon."
The Bush Administration is pushing for multilateral talks with North Korea but the communist state wants direct talks with Washington.
In the meantime, diplomatic activity is continuing behind the scenes. "We have a number of diplomatic initiatives under way - some of them very, very quietly under way - to see if we cannot get a multilateral dialogue started," the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, told a US Senate Committee.
Yesterday the US also flagged the possible withdrawal of its 37,000 troops from South Korea, part of the rethink of a deployment in place since the end of the Korean War in 1953.
The US Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, said the US was consulting with South Korea and he suspected "we'll end up making some adjustments there".
"Whether the forces come home or whether they will move further south of the [Korean] peninsula or whether to some neighbouring area are the kinds of things that are being sorted out," he said at a "town hall" meeting in Germany. -
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-koreas-nuclear,0,7640636.story?coll=sns%2Dap%2Dnationworld%2Dheadlines
N. Korea: U.S. Plotting a Nuclear Attack
By JAE-SUK YOO
Associated Press Writer
March 9, 2003, 6:29 AM EST
SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea on Sunday accused the United States of plotting a nuclear attack on the communist country and condemned Washington's decision to send additional long-range bombers to Guam.
North Korea claims the Bush administration is planning pre-emptive strikes on its military bases and nuclear facilities, which U.S. officials believe are being used to make atomic bombs.
North Korea's state KCNA news agency said the U.S. Department of Defense mapped out a plan including "not only cruise missile strikes and massive air raids, etc., but the use of tactical nuclear weapons."
The North's "army and people will take every possible self-defensive measure to cope with the U.S. bellicose forces' new war moves," it said.
Tension between Pyongyang and the United States increased last week after North Korean fighter jets intercepted a U.S. reconnaissance plane over the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
U.S. officials believe Pyongyang may be preparing to test fire another missile soon, following the launch of an anti-ship missile off its east coast late last month.
The Pentagon is deploying 12 B-1 and 12 B-52 bombers to Guam, about 2,000 miles from North Korea in case of conflict in the region.
"These moves indicate that the U.S. Air Force is taking the lead in implementing the U.S. imperialists' strategy to mount a pre-emptive attack on (North Korea)," said Pyongyang's official Rodong Sinmun newspaper.
Washington says it wants to settle the dispute diplomatically, but has not ruled out a military option.
Meanwhile, U.S. officials demanded that Pyongyang dismantle its nuclear facilities in Yongbyon during unofficial talks in Germany last month, a major Japanese daily said Sunday.
U.S. diplomats also called for Pyongyang to allow U.N. monitors to return to verify that it wasn't enriching uranium for its purported nuclear weapons program during the meetings at the North Korean Embassy in Berlin on Feb. 20-21, the Asahi newspaper reported.
North Korea rejected the demands and the meetings ended in disagreement, the paper said, citing an unidentified former U.S. official who attended the meeting. Pyongyang had proposed a visit by U.S. nuclear inspectors, it said.
U.S. officials were not immediately available for comment Sunday.
In Seoul, an opposition lawmaker urged South Korea to stop cash aid to North Korea, claiming the funds were being used to develop nuclear weapons.
Lee Hahn-koo said former President Kim Dae-jung's government provided $3.3 billion over the past five years, including $900 million in cash.
"The North's military would not have been able to achieve its current capacity without the Kim Dae-jung government's financial aid," Lee said in a news release.
The nuclear dispute flared in October when Washington said North Korea admitted pursuing a nuclear program.
Washington and its allies cut off oil shipments to the impoverished communist state. The North retaliated by expelling U.N. monitors, moving to reactivate its frozen nuclear facilities and withdrawing from the global Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Copyright © 2003, The Associated Press -
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/eastasia/view/34320/1/.html
First created :
09 March 2003 1104 hrs (SST) 0304 hrs (GMT)
Last modified :
09 March 2003 1104 hrs (SST) 0304 hrs (GMT)
North Korean jets wanted to force down US spy plane: report
A report in a leading American daily alleges that North Korean jets which intercepted an American spy plane last weekend was trying to force it to land in North Korea to seize its crew.
An unnamed senior defence official told the New York Times that it appears they intended to divert the aircraft to North Korea and take its crew hostage.
The North Korean warplanes came within 15 metres of the American Air Force Cobra Ball aircraft that was reportedly flying in international air space over the Sea of Japan a week ago.
One North Korean pilot is said to have made internationally recognised hand signals to the American flight crew to follow him - presumably back to his home base.
But the Americans ignored the gesture commands, aborted the surveillance mission, and returned to their Kadena Air Base in Japan.
Pentagon officials say there is little doubt that the North Korean mission was a well-planned operation that used its top pilots flying two MIG-29's and two MIG-23's.
It was the most serious military incident between the two Cold War rivals since the nuclear crisis erupted four months ago.
another 1
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/08/international/asia/08KORE.html?ex=1047790800&en=6a4431d68feaeb6e&ei=5038&partner=ASAHI -
The Twentieth Century produced some mad hatters with the names "Adolf Hitler", "Mussolini", and "Tojo".
It looks like in the Twenty First Century, luminaries that join those in the Twentieth Century will be "Saddam Hussein", "Osam Bin Laden", "Kim Jong iL", "Gaddafi", "Shaaron", and more to come until the end of the Twenty First (?). -
guess another part of war coming? 1st send b1 n b52 to guam....now....
U.S. Stealth Fighters to Go to S. Korea
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,80852,00.html
guess WW3 coming eh? -
another 1 of test...
North Korea prepares new test of missile -- Long range missile
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20030312-477649.htm -
US too rich and resourcefull already? Need to burn some money and sacrific some manpower in war?
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NK more of a threat than iraq....
North Korea acts up: True danger from N. Korea, not Iraq
http://www.philstar.com/philstar/News200303122603.htm
but then.....
Bush persists with diplomacy on N. Korean crisis
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/asia/story/0,4386,176458,00.html?