South Korea, US drill military near North border

SEOUL, Oct 20 (Reuters) South Korea and US militaries will wrap up two-day amphibious landing drills close to the heavily armed border with North Korea today as regional powers try to defuse tensions after Pyongyang's nuclear test.

About 3,000 South Korean marines and US military equipment have been mobilised for the exercise on the west coast island of Kanghwa as part of annual drills to test the allies' joint defences.

North Korea routinely reacts angrily to joint military drills by South Korea and the United States, calling them preparations for attack.

North Korea conducted its first nuclear test on October 9, escalating tensions already high from Pyongyang's nuclear weapons development. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reaffirmed Washington's commitment for South Korea's defence.

South and North Korea remain technically at war under a truce that ended the 1950-53 Korean War, which was never replaced with a permanent peace treaty.

REUTERS SP HS0948