Military

DATE=11/17/2003

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-309899

TITLE=RUMSFELD/ASIA (SHORT)

BYLINE=AMY BICKERS

DATELINE=TOKYO

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: At security talks in Seoul, U-S Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and South Korea Defense Minister Cho Young-kil called on North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons programs. As V-O-A's Amy Bickers reports from Tokyo, Mr. Rumsfeld says U-S plans for a global military realignment would strengthen U-S capabilities in the region.

TEXT: In a joint statement, Mr. Rumsfeld and Mr. Cho urged North Korea to abandon its nuclear drive and vowed to maintain their strong security alliance in the face of the North's nuclear activities.

Both governments, along with China, Japan and Russia, want Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons program.

At a news conference, the U-S defense secretary said the United States is planning to realign its military in Northeast Asia. U-S troops have been stationed as a deterrent force on the peninsula since the two Koreas signed an armistice in 1953.

/// RUMSFELD ACT ///

It is not numbers. it is capability to impose lethal power where needed, when needed, with the greatest flexibility and with the greatest agility.

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Rumsfeld says he honors Seoul's decision to send only three-thousand troops to the U-S-led rebuilding of Iraq because of security concerns. (SIGNED)

NEB/HK/AB/MH