Nixon weighed nuking North Korea

WASHINGTON, July 7 (UPI) -- U.S. President Richard Nixon mulled using nuclear weapons against North Korea after its fighters shot down a U.S. spy plane in 1969, documents indicate.

North Korean jets had shot down the U.S. EC-121 reconnaissance plane with 31 crew members aboard over international waters of the Sea of Japan, leaving Nixon trying to figure out what the appropriate response should be.

National Public Radio reported Tuesday newly disclosed documents show the president and his national security adviser, Henry Kissinger, considered a range of military responses, including the nuclear option.

NPR also reported former U.S. fighter pilot Bruce Charles says after the spy plane was shot down, he was put on alert in South Korea with a nuclear bomb loaded on his aircraft. After several hours, the order came to stand down, he said.

"The colonel said, 'It looks like from the messages I'm getting, we will not do this today. I do not know about tomorrow,'" NPR quoted Charles as saying, noting his story could not be confirmed independently.

NPR said not long after the reconnaissance plane was shot down The New York Times, citing sources in the Nixon administration, had reported a nuclear attack against North Korea had been discussed.

Robert Wampler, a historian who works for the National Security Archive, recently posted 16 documents on the George Washington University project's Web site. They show that two months after the attack, the nuclear option was presented to Nixon, NPR reported.

"The military produced the options, ratcheting up the level of military force all the way to all-out war and to using nuclear weapons," Wampler said. "But constantly you find the military saying, 'But the risks probably still outweigh the potential gains.'"

Ultimately, Nixon decided against a military response to the spy plane incident and the public radio network said by the time the nuclear option was presented, he was considering what his choices might be should there be another provocation by North Korea.