South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun underscored the gulf between Seoul and Washington, saying the buzzing by North Korean fighters of a US spy plane was predictable after Washington denounced it as reckless.
The South Korean minister in charge of ties with the North said yesterday fears of a US attack there were unfounded. But South Korean officials declined comment on the announcement that Washington was sending 24 B-1 and B-52 bombers to Guam to deter possible North Korean aggression in case of war in Iraq.
Roh, in an interview with The Times newspaper of London, said the weekend encounter in which North Korean fighters buzzed a US spy plane in international airspace was part of "a very predictable chain of events" because of increased US aerial surveillance of the North's nuclear activities.
Washington says it will lodge a formal protest over the near-miss over the Sea of Japan, 240km off North Korea's shores.
But in remarks highlighting differences between Seoul's new government and Washington that Pyongyang has tried to widen and exploit, Roh did not clearly condemn the North, instead appearing to put the onus on the US.
"I am urging the US not to go too far," said Roh, a keen supporter of deepening engagement with Pyongyang who won election last year on a pledge for a more equal South Korea-US alliance.
Roh's comments came after US President George W. Bush was quoted as saying military options could not be ruled out as a means of settling the standoff with North Korea.
Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun struck a stronger tone on Sunday's North Korea-US mid-air showdown.
"It had a negative impact on the US perception of North Korea and, therefore, on the situation on the peninsula, including nuclear problems," Jeong told SBS radio.
Jeong dismissed speculation that the US was poised to attack North Korea pre-emptively as "baseless anxiety."
"How can the US ignore South Korea and go against our will in pursuing its North Korean policy?" Jeong told SBS.
US officials have said the security treaty with South Korea rules out military moves without prior consultations with Seoul.
North Korea has been warning for weeks that nuclear war could break out at any moment.
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