SOUTH KOREA Rift remains in troop-cut talks

The North could view the U.S. withdrawal as a sign of weakness, some say.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Talks between South Korea and the United States ended in discord today over plans to reposition U.S. troops, an issue that has been overshadowed by a separate proposal to slash all U.S. forces in the country by one-third.
South Korea's Defense Minister Cho Young-kil said the U.S. military has not finalized the plans to cut 12,500 of its 37,000 troops. Still he pledged to beef up Seoul's own forces amid concerns of a security vacuum along the Cold War's last frontier.
In two days of talks ending today, neither side could agree on the separate issue of how much land South Korea should provide for U.S. forces repositioned within the country, said Lt. Gen. Kwon Ahn-do, the main policy coordinator for South Korea's Defense Ministry.
"The two sides only exchanged their basic positions and failed to narrow differences," he said.
There was no immediate reaction from the U.S. side.
The U.S. troops along the border have long been considered a "tripwire" to ensure U.S. intervention if the North attacks. Many in the South also see them as a healthy restraint on the United States, believing Washington won't take military action to provoke the North when U.S. troops are in harm's way on the border.
The U.S. proposal to pull out 12,500 of its soldiers nationwide by the end of next year would force South Korea to shoulder more responsibility for defending itself from any North Korean military aggression.
Concern
But the plan, announced Monday, has raised concern the North could view a U.S. withdrawal as a sign of weakness as the communist country wrangles with its neighbors and Washington over its nuclear weapons program.
Defense Minister Cho tried to quell the security concerns, saying: "We have to have further negotiations... It has not yet been decided."
"Concerning concerns about a security vacuum, we will take measures to ensure that the U.S.-South Korea deterrent capability is not diminished, and we will make efforts to strengthen our deterrent capabilities," Cho said.
President Roh Moo-hyun has said in the past that South Korea must chip in more for its own defense, but some in the South voiced concern about the size and quick timetable of the proposed U.S. withdrawal.
The troop reduction would be the first major cut in South Korea since the early 1990s, when the allies coordinated the removal of 7,000 soldiers.
The United States has stationed troops in South Korea since the end of the Korean War -- partly as a deterrent against North Korea and partly as a counterbalance to other regional powers. The Korean War ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty, and the two sides are technically still at war.
Korean armies
South Korea's 650,000-member military is a modern, well-equipped force that routinely conducts joint training with U.S. counterparts. Most of the combat-ready troops are concentrated close to the border or around Seoul.
Cho did not give any details today about how the South might bolster its military deterrent.
North Korea has a formidable arsenal of missiles and more than 1 million soldiers, but it is said to have fuel shortages and lack spare parts for its decrepit military hardware.
Washington has said it will spend $11 billion over the next five years to modernize and improve its firepower in the theater as part of a global overhaul to make its troops more flexible.
"We are realigning our force posture to respond more effectively to the threats of the 21st century," State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said Monday.