The United States is mapping out a new theater war plan on the Korean Peninsula aimed at striking weapons of mass destruction in North Korea, reports said yesterday, citing an unidentified defense expert in Canada.

The U.S. move comes after North Korea’s proclaimed nuclear bomb test on Oct. 9.

According to the report, the United States is revising OPLAN 5027-3, the joint contingency plan with South Korea formulated in 2003, to neutralize Pyongyang’s nuclear capability with overwhelming support from the U.S. Air Force.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) declined to comment on the report.

Under the envisaged plan, U.S. combat aircraft and bombers, such as F-117A Stealth Bombers and F-15E fighters, are to conduct a ``surgical strike’’ on major weapons of mass destruction (WMD) facilities and training sites in the North instead of ground forces advancing into the North, the report said.

OPLAN 5027, drawn up by the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC), aims to deter North Korean forces armed with conventional weapons, but lacks specific action plans to cope with a nuclear war.

Washington is committed to dispatching some 690,000 troops with 1,600 aircraft and 160 ships to the peninsula within 90 days after a war breaks out, according to the plan.

Since Pyongyang’s nuclear test, the South Korean military has also stepped up preparations for a possible nuclear war on the peninsula.

Sources at the JCS said last week that Seoul is reviewing plans to revise the OPLAN 5027 to address North Korea’s missile and nuclear threats.

The JCS has submitted two reports to Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung since Oct. 3 when Pyongyang announced its plan to conduct a nuclear test, they said.