A U.S. weekly magazine reported in its latest edition the U.S. Defense Department has ordered military planners to draw up a secret new war plan aimed at inducing the collapse of the North Korean regime.

U.S. News & World Report quoted senior Bush administration officials as saying that elements of the draft, known as Operations Plan 5030, are so aggressive that they could provoke a war.

The new plan, which would give commanders in the region the authority to conduct military maneuvers before a war has started, is aimed at creating an atmosphere conducive to the collapse of the North's regime by draining its limited resources and destabilizing its military forces.