SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea's president said today the country's alliance with the United States is key to resolving North Korea's nuclear and missile threats as he flew to Washington for a summit with President Obama.

The summit scheduled for tomorrow comes in the wake of North Korea's declaration over the weekend that it would step up its bomb-making atomic program. It also threatened war with any country that tries to stop its ships under new sanctions approved by the U.N. Security Council in response to its May 25 nuclear test.

"We cannot stress enough the importance of diplomacy at a time when a security crisis is intensifying due to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats," President Lee Myung-bak said before his departure.

FIRST U.K. SWINE FLU DEATH IN SCOTLAND

LONDON — A person with underlying health conditions died of swine flu in Scotland yesterday — the first reported death from the illness outside the Americas, health officials said. Earlier yesterday, Britain had reported another 61 cases of swine flu, bringing the U.K. total to 1,226 cases.

Now that the virus - known as H1N1 — has officially been declared to be a pandemic, or global outbreak, health authorities expect to see more cases and deaths worldwide. About half the people who have died from swine flu have had other health conditions including pregnancy, obesity, diabetes or asthma.

SON WISHES SUPREMACIST FATHER HAD DIED

WASHINGTON — The son of the man accused of killing a security guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum said yesterday his father had long burdened his family with his white supremacist views and that he wishes his father would have died in the shooting instead.

James von Brunn, 88, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of 39-year-old Stephen T. Johns, who was black. Authorities say von Brunn shot the guard in the chest after Johns opened the door for him. Von Brunn was shot in the face by guards and is expected to survive; a hearing is set for today in a D.C. federal court for a magistrate judge to hear about von Brunn's health.

"I cannot express enough how deeply sorry I am it was Mr. Johns, and not my father who lost (his) life," Erik von Brunn, 32, said in a statement to ABC News.

2 CONTRACTORS TAKEN FROM IRAQ CUSTODY

BAGHDAD — Two American contractors were transferred yesterday from Iraqi to U.S. custody, the U.S. Embassy said, stressing that Iraqi authorities requested the move in line with a security pact that took effect this year.

The men have been held since June 3 when they were detained with three other Americans by U.S.-backed Iraqi forces as part of an investigation into the stabbing death of a fellow contractor. The other three have been released on bond. The five have been cleared of any link to James Kitterman's killing but face an ongoing investigation into unrelated charges.

TEEN CHARGED IN FLORIDA CAT MUTILATIONS

MIAMI — A teenager faces charges in a gruesome string of cat mutilations and killings that have horrified his neighbors and shaken animal lovers in two South Florida communities. Tyler Hayes Weinman, 18, was charged yesterday with 19 counts each of animal cruelty and improperly disposing of an animal body and four counts of burglary related to the deaths.

In the past month, residents in the Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay neighborhoods have reported finding the bodies of more than two dozen cats. Police said some were likely killed by dogs. Some were missing fur — neighbors said some had been skinned — and appeared to have been cut with a sharp, straight instrument, police said.

AT LEAST 2 DEAD AFTER PLANE CRASHES IN N.Y.

SCOTIA, N.Y. — A small plane plunged into the Mohawk River in eastern New York with three people aboard yesterday, and at least two were found dead after the aircraft sank in 30 feet of water, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said.

The Piper Cherokee went down near Scotia in the afternoon, shortly after taking off from the nearby Mohawk Valley Airport, FAA spokesman Jim Peters said. Scotia is about 20 miles northwest of Albany. The third person's condition wasn't immediately known. Peters said divers were still searching last night to see whether anyone else was aboard.