U.S. Military in S. Korea May Be Strengthened

Pentagon officials have started work on a list of options for possible use to strengthen the stance of U.S. military forces in South Korea, Pentagon sources said Wednesday.

Defense Secretary Les Aspin is expected to discuss the options with President Clinton or other White House officials in coming days, prior to Aspin’s departure Tuesday for a NATO meeting in Brussels.

The possible steps are being prepared in case the situation involving North Korea’s nuclear program worsens.

The Pentagon sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, emphasized that no decisions have been made and that work is “strictly preparatory” for White House review.

Pentagon spokeswoman Kathleen deLaski refused to comment on what the options might be.

But the New York Times in today’s editions reports that they include increasing the alert status of American forces, the increased use of spy satellites and moving an aircraft carrier closer to the Korean Peninsula. Other options mentioned are deploying Patriot air-defense missiles to counter the North Korean Scud missile threat and dispatching more Air Force squadrons and Army troops to South Korea.

In South Korea, the Seoul newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported that South Korea has initiated secret talks with North Korea to defuse growing tension over the north’s suspected nuclear program.

Clinton, meanwhile, said the United States will not overreact to North Korea’s declaration that it is prepared to suffer war or sanctions in the growing crisis.

The President said it is still possible that North Korea will allow international inspections of suspect sites.

He refused to go as far as CIA Director R. James Woolsey, who when asked Tuesday night if North Korea might be prepared to go to war, replied, “You can’t rule it out.”