WASHINGTON — Despite its reconciliation efforts with the West and Seoul,
North Korea has bolstered its military readiness.
"Its [North Korea] forces today are more prepared than they were a year
ago," U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen said. "They are doing more
training today than they did last year. They have more forward-deployed
artillery pieces than ever before."
The assertion came in a Pentagon report as the defense ministers of
North and South Korea will meet this week for the first time since the
1950-53 Korean War.
A Pentagon report to Congress said North Korea remains the major threat
to stability and security in Northeast Asia and is the country most likely
to involve the United States in a major war. The report said North
Korea has the fifth largest military in the world, with more than 1,600
aircraft, 800 ships, 2,000 tanks, 500 Scud missiles, 8,000 artillery pieces
and more than six million reservists.
North Korea, the report said, has over the last year deployed large
numbers of long-range 240 mm multiple rocket launcher systems and 170 mm
self-propelled guns near the demilitarized zone with South Korea. Pyongyang
acquired fighter aircraft, increased training, beefed up coastal defenses,
constructed missile facilities and prepared for extended range missile
testing.
"There is little or no evidence of economic reform or reform-minded
leaders; reduction in military forces; or a lessening of anti-U.S.
rhetoric," the report said. "A decade of steep economic decline has not
deterred the North's leaders from allocating precious resources to improving
their military forces."
U.S. officials said the report is another reason to maintain U.S. forces
in Asia. This includes 37,000 troops in South Korea and 100,000 troops in
the Asia-Pacific region.
Cohen said Pyongyang must cut its troops to win Western aid and support.
"The North cannot take the position that the only basis for discussion will
be whether or not economic aid continues to flow North so that it can
continue to build its economy without some corresponding reduction in
military tension," he said. "At some point — and not too far in the
distance — there must be some
reciprocity."
