GUAM: US bombers landed on the Pacific island of Guam yesterday to deter North Korea in the event of a US-led war with Iraq.
But there were signs of unofficial contacts between the United States and the communist North about a suspected nuclear weapons programme.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of Defence, Mr Donald Rumsfeld, said Washington was considering trimming its forces in western Europe, particularly those in Germany, and sending them to South Korea.
"We have [a lot of\] force in Germany . . . because it was important they be there during the Cold War because of the Soviet Union and a possible threat," Mr Rumsfeld said. "Obviously this is not the case today.
"The same is true with our forces in western Europe. We had some difficulties, for example recently in the force flow, where we weren't allowed to take forces to Austria by train."
The Japanese news agency Kyodo quoted a senior US official as saying North Korea was moving ahead with preparations to launch a mid-range Rodong ballistic missile, different from the short-range missile test-fired last week just hours before South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun's inauguration.
A few hours after US bombers arrived in Guam, Mr Roh met security advisers yesterday to discuss the crisis and plans for the President and his foreign minister to visit Washington. "We do have some B-52s and B-1s on the flight line \," said Sgt Jess Harvey, at Anderson air force base on the Pacific island.
Australian Foreign Minister Mr Alexander Downer told reporters in Canberra: "I don't think there's a decision by the \ administration to start forward deploying threatening forces against North Korea." Australia, one of the few US allies with diplomatic links with communist Pyongyang, has called for multilateral talks.
By contrast, Washington and Seoul have appeared at odds over how to tackle the North, particularly over whether to rule out the use of military force to thwart Pyongyang's nuclear plans.
China, one of Pyongyang's few allies, said direct US-North Korea talks were the answer.
"We have all along called for dialogue and opposed pressure or sanctions against North Korea.Foreign Minister Mr Tang Jiaxuan said. But it appears both Washington and Seoul have reached out to Pyongyang unofficially in the past two weeks, despite Washington's desire for multilateral talks rather than the bilateral talks the North demands.