Powell and Cho met for an hour at the State Department, spokesman Richard Boucher said.

"The Secretary made clear our commitment to the alliance with the Republic of Korea and to continue to work with the republic to create a strength in that alliance," said Boucher.

Planned realignments of US forces in South Korea would enhance the military deterrent on the peninsula "in light of new realities," he said.

The United States and South Korea agreed in early June to gradually reposition US forces away from the inter-Korean border.

Cho was expected to brief Rumsfeld on South Korean plans to fill the vacuum in the border area left by the realignment of 15,000 US soldiers assigned to the US 2nd Infantry Division.

The US garrison at Yongsan base has long been a irritant in South Korea-US ties because of its location on prime real estate in the heart of the South Korean capital.

The United States plans to reduce the number of major installations in South Korea from 41 to 23 and return roughly 50 percent of the land it currently uses to South Korea by 2011.

US ground forces have been deployed as a trip wire along the border between North and South since the 1950-1953 Korean War, ensuring that an invasion from the North would immediately draw the United States into the conflict.

Washington argues that the trip wire analogy is outdated and that realignment will enhance US combat potential.

The US military presence in South Korea was thrust again into the spotlight last year by massive anti-US protests following the deaths of two girls in a road accident involving a US military vehicle.

Powell and Cho also discussed North Korea.

"Both sides agree on the need for a verifiable and irreversible elimination of North Korean nuclear programs. And both sides look to seek a diplomatic and peaceful resolution to the problem," said Boucher.

WAR.WIRE