US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Tuesday defended US plans to cut its troops stationed in South Korea, saying the move would not weaken its deterrent to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

With the planned reduction of one-third of the troops, "the deterrent will not be weakened in any way," he told a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"It is a mistake in my view to equate numbers with lethality and capability. Speed, agility and precision are enormously important, more important than numbers," he said.

Rumsfeld was responding to a question during a hearing raised by Republican Senator John McCain that he was especially worried about plans to withdraw 12,500 of the 37,000 US troops now in South Korea.

"I absolutely do not think that there is any risk that the North Koreans are going to misunderstand the combined military capability...of South Korea and the United States of America," he said.

Rumsfeld said that it has been 50 years since the end of the Korean War, and South Korea was more powerful and more capable from an economic standpoint than the DPRK. "We are rearranging ourforces on the peninsula and we are adding capability that costs money, that adds lethality," he said.

"The suggestion that deterrent will be weakened in my view is inaccurate," he added.

Following President George W. Bush's announcement Monday of plans to reduce the US troops in Europe and Asia over the next decade, Democrats said the plans would weaken US bargaining position in talks with the DPRK on its nuclear program.

The United States currently has about 100,000 troops stationed in the Asia-Pacific region, mainly South Korea and Japan.

Source: Xinhua