Lieutenant General Jeffrey Remington said the US Air Force in the South would retire decades-old U-2 spy planes and replace them with Global Hawk unmanned reconnaissance planes.

Remington's comments in an interview with Dong-A Ilbo newspaper were confirmed by his public affairs officer.

The general also said South Korea should buy the Global Hawks to improve the surveillance capability of the joint force.

North Korea on May 25 staged its second nuclear test. It followed up by renouncing the armistice in force for more than 50 years on the peninsula, firing six short-range missiles and threatening the South with possible attack.

Pyongyang is also thought to be preparing to test medium-range missiles and a long-range Taepodong-2.

The US stations 28,500 troops in the South to support its 680,000-strong military against any threat from the North's 1.1 million-strong armed forces.

Remington noted that the communist North has the world's fourth largest military force and deploys a large force of special troops and artillery near the border.

The lieutenant-general said last week's nuclear test poses "grave threats" to the South's security.

However Remington said the Korea-US Combined Air Force "is so strong that it can tackle any threat, not to mention aggression by the North Korean air force."

A South Korean military official said Tuesday the United States had agreed to sell "bunker-buster" bombs to South Korea that are capable of destroying underground facilities in the North.

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