U.S. military to pull out from Korean border

PANMUNJOM, Korea -- The U.S. military is on track to pull almost all its troops from their last outpost on the tense border with North Korea by October, a U.S. Army officer said Wednesday, amid discord over relocation plans.\nThe two allies were also eyeing more negotiations over a U.S. troop withdrawal proposal that would be the largest reduction of American forces on the divided Korean Peninsula in three decades.\nThe plans signal a new test for a key Asian alliance that has helped underpin U.S. policy in the region since the 1950-53 Korean War, when U.S. soldiers helped repel a North Korean invasion.\nAmong the unresolved issues is how much land would be needed for consolidating U.S. troops from scattered camps near the North Korean border at expanded bases farther south.\nThe countries also said more talks were needed on a sensitive U.S. proposal to withdraw one third of the 37,000 American troops stationed in South Korea by the end of next year.\nSome in South Korea see the withdrawal plan as too sudden, possibly being interpreted as a sign of weakness by North Korea as it wrangles with its neighbors over its nuclear weapons program.\nNorth Korea, which routinely calls for the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from the South, has so far been silent on the proposal to remove 12,500 troops -- the largest cut since the 1970s.\nThen-President Richard Nixon pulled out about 20,000 soldiers as a measure of detente with Moscow and Beijing, North Korea's traditional allies.\nNorth Korea has blasted a separate plan to redeploy 3,500 U.S. troops from South Korea to Iraq this summer, saying it clears the way for Washington to bolster its military muscle with more high-tech weaponry.\nSouth Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon tried to quell security concerns Wednesday, saying Seoul would bolster the military deterrent against North Korea, no matter what changes are made.\n"Under no circumstances should the redeployment lead toward minimizing the joint South Korea-U.S. defense capability, but instead lead toward strengthening it," Ban said.