Some US bombers, fighter jets and warships have been alerted to deter any aggression by North Korea in case of a war in Iraq, US officials said last night.
The officials said Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had not issued any final orders to move B-52 bombers, F-16 fighter jets or naval units closer to the tense Korean peninsula - now gripped in a nuclear crisis.
But Washington has said it intends to settle differences with Pyongyang peacefully and officials stressed the possible deployment did not include any ground forces to join the 37,000 US troops now stationed in South Korea.
The Pentagon refused to confirm any alert of forces.
North Korea said its troops were at the ready in case of any US "military and political moves" against it as tensions rose over the crisis on the peninsula.
The Korean crisis was sparked last October when Washington said Pyongyang admitted to developing a highly enriched uranium program in violation of a 1994 accord, under which the North froze its nuclear programne in exchange for two nuclear energy reactors and economic help.
But Secretary of State Colin Powell last week said the United States had "no intention of attacking" North Korea and was ready to convey that assurance in a way "that makes sense and . . . is unmistakable".