Seoul in arms cut plea to North

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South Korea's president has called for talks with North Korea on cutting conventional weapons on the two nations' heavily fortified border.

Lee Myung-bak also renewed a pledge to provide aid if the communist state gave up its nuclear arms programme.

Mr Lee's comments came in a speech to mark the end of Japanese colonial rule over the Korean peninsula in 1945.

Ties between the two sides, technically still at war, have deteriorated since Mr Lee came to power last year.

"If the North and South reduce conventional weapons and troops, enormous resources will be freed up to improve the economies on both sides," the South Korean leader said.

The two Koreas have more than one million troops deployed near the Demilitarised Zone that has divided the peninsula since the 1950-53 Korean War.

Mr Lee also warned that "nuclear weapons do not guarantee North Korea's security. They only cloud its future".

Instead, he said Seoul was ready to help the impoverished North end its international isolation if it halted its nuclear weapons programme.

"Now is the time for the North and South to come to the table and talk about these issues," Mr Lee said.

Since taking office in February 2008, Mr Lee has been pursuing a tougher stance than his predecessors on nuclear and other issues.

Pyongyang has so far made no comment in response to the South Korean president's suggestion.