8216;North Korea still threat despite nuclear rollback8217;

8220;Although it is true that North Korea has begun the process of disabling its nuclear programme, we cannot say that the threat from North Korea has reduced tangibly or discernibly,8221; Kim Jang-soo said after meeting US Defence Secretary Robert Gates.

Kim and Gates discussed how the allies could counter the threat posed by the North8217;s 1.2 million-man military, most of whom are near the heavily fortified border with the South.

8220;The North Korean nuclear and conventional threat remains the focal point of our alliance for its deterrent and defence position,8221; Gates said at a joint news conference.

The United States has about 28,000 troops in South Korea to support the country8217;s military of some 670,000 soldiers. The two Koreas remain technically at war because their 1950-1953 conflict ended in a truce and not a peace treaty.

A US State Department official who just returned from the North8217;s Yongbyon nuclear complex said the state has started to reverse operations at three key facilities 8212; an ageing reactor, a plant that produces nuclear fuel and another that turns spent fuel into arms-grade plutonium.

The deal requires North Korea to disable the three by the end of 2007, provide a list of its nuclear arms activity, account for all its fissile material and answer US suspicions that it has a clandestine programme to enrich uranium for weapons.

Under the deal it reached with China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States, the energy-starved North is to receive 1 million tonnes of heavy fuel oil or equivalent aid.

The United States will also move toward taking North Korea off a US terrorism blacklist.

Proliferation experts said the disablement steps would be reversible but would put the North out of the plutonium production business for about a year.

US officials estimate the North has about 50 kg 110 lb of plutonium. Proliferation experts say that is enough for six to eight bombs.