Updated on Wednesday, March 01, 2006, 00:00 IST

Seoul. March 01: North Korea accused the United States on Tuesday of conducting more than 170 spy flights against the communist state in February.

American aircraft, including U-2s, RC-135s and EP-3s, conducted surveillance on "strategic targets" and "key military targets" in North Korea from skies over the South, the North's official Korean Central News Agency reported, citing unidentified military sources.

North Korea releases tallies of alleged US spy flights every month. The US military doesn't comment, although it acknowledges monitoring North Korean military activity.

Some 29,500 US troops are based in South Korea, which remains technically at war with the North since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty.

Bureau Report