N Korea urged to demilitarise

Reports say the North has boosted its military power

United States Defence Secretary William Cohen has urged North Korea to start reducing military tension with South Korea in return for economic assistance.

North Korea has the third biggest army in the world

Mr Cohen said possible concessions could include giving up any chemical and biological weapons.

He said the North had stepped up military training and had moved more troops and artillery pieces closer to the Korean demilitarized zone (DMZ).

But he warned the flow of aid from South Korea could not be a "one-way street".

"You cannot have a situation where all the economic aid flows into the North and they continue to build up the military," Mr Cohen said on a trip to Japan.

Rocket launchers

His comments coincided with the release of a Pentagon report which warned that North Korea had made major improvements to its military despite its severe economic crisis.

About 700,000 troops are said to be near the DMZ

It said North Korea had placed large numbers of artillery guns and rocket launchers near the DMZ that separates the communist North from the US-backed South.

And it described North Korean President Kim Jong-il as bent on bolstering his nation's preparedness for war.

The Pentagon said the North was in a position to mount a major attack against South Korea "with minimal additional preparation, although at great risk".

Force

The two Koreas remain technically at war, having ended their 1950-53 conflict with a truce rather than a peace deal.

The two Korean leaders have pledged to ease tensions

The report did not predict renewed war between the Koreas, but stressed that "the Korean Peninsula remains a dangerous theatre".

It acknowledged the new mood of rapprochement following the historic June summit meeting between Kim Jong-il and South Korean President Kim Dae-jung.

But it said there were no firm indicators the North was ready to turn away from its long-standing goal of reunifying the Koreas by force.

Threat of war

During his visit to South Korea on Thursday, Mr Cohen encouraged Seoul to continue its economic assistance and cultural exchanges with the North.

He said next week's first-ever meeting between the two countries' defence ministers could lead to significant progress in reducing the threat of war.

The Pentagon report found North Korea had

• 70% of its active-duty force posted within 100 miles of the DMZ

• about 700,000 troops, 8,000 artillery guns and 2,000 tanks near the DMZ

• ammunition stockpiles estimated at over 1m tonnes

• a major petroleum war reserve despite severe fuel shortages

• recently moved large numbers of rocket launchers and artillery guns near the DMZ

• expanded ammunition and equipment storage capacities near the DMZ

• produced more fighter aircraft in the last year