North Korea army threatens South and region: Seoul

SEOUL -North Korea is a grave threat to regional security, deploys most of its ground forces near the border with the South and is ready to attack at a moment's notice, South Korea's defense minister said on Friday.Global concern has mounted after North Korea's pledges this month to restore a reactor complex that makes arms-grade plutonium."North Korea maintains a vast military and forward deploys more than 70 percent of its ground forces. It stands ready to mount a surprise attack any time," Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee told a security forum, according to a prepared text."It continues to develop weapons of mass destruction such as nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and missiles and is a grave threat to the stability, not only of the Korean peninsula, but also the region."Residents of Seoul and other South Korean cities near the heavily armed border have lived under the threat of North Korea's howitzers and 1.2-million-man military for decades.Ties between the two Koreas have chilled since President Lee Myung-bak took office in February and angered Pyongyang by cutting off what once had been free-flowing aid and said Seoul's handouts would now be tied to Pyongyang's nuclear disarmament."The prospects for the nuclear issue are unclear because of unpredictable actions by the North such as suspending disablement steps," the defense minister said.South Korea has about 670,000 troops, who are supported by about 27,000 U.S. soldiers in the country.The two Koreas remain technically at war because the truce ending the 1950-53 Korean War has never been replaced by a peace treaty.
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE48P2NR20080926
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