North Korea urged to abandon nuclear weapons

South Korea’s foreign minister today praised front-line US troops protecting the border with North Korea, and called on the communist state to abandon a quest for nuclear weapons that has raised tensions on the divided Korean Peninsula.

Ban Ki-moon told soldiers with the US Army’s 2nd Infantry Division at their headquarters in Uijeongbu, north of the capital Seoul, they were “the heroes securing and maintaining the peace and prosperity thus built”.

“Once you get to know how much the Korean people, including myself, are grateful for your devotion, you would not feel frustrated or worried at all,” he said, according to a report from Yonhap news agency.

US forces have been based in South Korea since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in a ceasefire, not a peace treaty.

About 34,000 US troops are still there, but their numbers are set to fall to about 24,500 in the next few years as part of a global realignment of the US military to reflect the end of the Cold War. Washington insists the fewer troops won’t mean less security for South Korea.

Tensions have risen in the region recently over North Korea’s refusal to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

South Korea and the United States – along with China, Japan and Russia – are seeking to convince Pyongyang to give up developing the weapons, but so far no breakthroughs have been made.

“We firmly believe that now is the time for the North Korean leadership to make the strategic decision to give up its nuclear programmes, including uranium enrichment programs, in a thorough and transparent manner,” Ban said today, according to Yonhap.

“Along with the other countries, South Korea and the US will continue our efforts to convince the North Korean leadership of the wisdom of an early solution to this serious problem.”

Ban also expressed his condolences over the deaths of 33 soldiers from the 2nd Infantry Division in Iraq, among some 3,600 troops who have already redeployed away from South Korea.