US Stealth fighters arrived in the South on Thursday, the American military said, amid continuing speculation over a second North Korean nuclear test.

"The US introduction of this type of war hardware ... is a dangerous military move blatantly challenging the aspiration and desire ... for a peaceful settlement of the nuclear issue," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported, citing a spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland.

A squadron of radar-evading F-117 Nighthawk Stealth fighters and 300 airmen arrived at Gunsan, 270 kilometers (167 miles) southwest of Seoul, for a "routine" training deployment, a US Air Force statement said earlier in the week.

The deployment was partly to "demonstrate the continued US commitment toward fulfilling security responsibility in Korea and throughout the Western Pacific," the statement added.

The North's statement said the move showed that US calls for peace were "nothing but window-dressing".

"The DPRK is ready both for war and dialogue," the statement added.

The latest round of six-nation talks aimed at ending the North's nuclear program ended in Beijing in December without a breakthrough.

Christopher Hill, the top US envoy to the talks, will return to the region late next week to meet key allies.

But there are no indications that a resumption of six-party negotiations with Pyongyang are imminent, a senior US official said Friday.

The six-party negotiations were suspended in late 2005 after North Korea walked out in protest at US financial sanctions imposed on a Macau bank accused of illicit dealings on behalf of Pyongyang.

The North tested a nuclear bomb in October last year, causing global consternation and triggering UN sanctions.

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