North Korea stepped up its anti-US tirade Sunday, accusing Washington of planning to deploy an aircraft carrier off the Korean peninsula.The North's ruling party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, claimed US troops in South Korea would be equipped with new missiles capable of destroying underground facilities in the communist state.
"What merits a serious attention is that the US Navy is planning to deploy a latest nuclear aircraft carrier flotilla of John Stenis in the waters off the Korean peninsula," it said in reference to the USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier.
It said the US moves would throw "more obstacles" in the way of six-party talks aimed at ending a stand-off over North Korea's nuclear weapons drive.
The accusations came ahead of US-South Korean military drills due to start on Monday.
The North insists the annual two-week exercise, called Ulchi Focus Lens, is part of Washington's war preparations to topple the Stalinist regime, while Washington says it is purely defensive.
North Korea has expressed scepticism about a new round of six-nation talks, which bring together China, the two Koreas, Japan, Russia and the United States.
The new talks are due in September. But Pyongyang suggested last week it might not even attend a preparatory round of discussions to prepare for the gathering.
The nuclear stand-off erupted in October 2002 when the United States accused Pyongyang of operating a secret nuclear program based on enriched uranium.
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