A former South Korean army officer has been arrested for operating a pro-North Korea online community extolling the virtues of the isolated communist state and its leader, police said Friday.

They have also asked communications authorities to shut down the website, which has been running since 2003, in a renewed crackdown against support for the North online.

The retired army captain, surnamed Bang, is accused of running the site and disseminating about 13,000 propaganda postings obtained from overseas North Korean websites, the National Police Agency (NPA) said.

He is also accused of uploading video clips and comments praising North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Il, the NPA said in a statement.

The postings portrayed the 28,500 US troops stationed in the South as "satanic devils" and reiterated Pyongyang's claim that the Korean War was started by the South attacking the North.

Since the investigation began in October 2010, Bang and 12 other members of the community have been charged with committing pro-North activities in breach of the anti-communist National Security Law, according to the police.

State prosecutors said last month they would step up action against pro-North Korean activities in cyberspace, which they said had reached a risky level.

The draconian National Security Law prohibits praising the North or its leader, with those found guilty facing jail.

The two Koreas are still technically at war, as the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

Inter-Korean ties have become tense since the conservative government of President Lee Myung-Bak took office in early 2008 and adopted a tougher stance toward Pyongyang.