S Koreans see China as threat later, not North-poll

SEOUL, Mar 20 (Reuters) South Koreans view China rather than North Korea as the biggest threat to their security 10 years from now, according to a survey.

The two Koreas are technically still at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. North and South Korea have hundreds of thousands of troops stationed near the heavily fortified border that divides the peninsula.

In the survey by the state-funded Korea Institute for Defence Analyses (KIDA), 37.7 per cent of respondents listed leading trading partner China as the biggest threat to South Korea 10 years from now because of its growing strength in the region.

Japan was second on 23.6 per cent, while North Korea was third on 20.7 per cent and the United States fourth with 14.8 perc ent.

''North Korea may seem to be less of a threat 10 years from now because the government has been conducting a successful policy of cooperation with it, while China is getting powerful both in terms of economics and its military,'' a KIDA official said by telephone.

The survey was conducted in December among about 1,000 people aged 20 or older and was released yesterday.

To underscore the potential for tension on the peninsula, North Korea responded to planned annual US-South Korean military exercises by saying last week it had the right to attack pre-emptively.

The United States, which has about 30,000 troops in South Korea to support the country's 690,000 troops, was considered South Korea's best ally by 81.7 per cent of respondents. China was a distant second at 6.1 per cent.

North Korea has most of its 1.2 million troops stationed near the border with the South. The North's official KCNA news agency reported over the weekend leader Kim Jong-il had visited a forward command post, but did not say exactly where or when.

REUTERS KD PM1222