Pentagon chief, at Korean DMZ, says U.S. will not cut force in Korea

U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel looks through a pair of binoculars to observe training at the Rodriguez Live Fire Complex (RLFC), just miles south of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the military border separating the two Koreas, in South Korea September 30, 2013. REUTERS/Jacquelyn Martin/Pool

PANMUNJOM, Korean Demilitarized Zone (Reuters) - U.S. Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel toured the Korean DMZ on Monday, at times under the watchful eye of North Korean soldiers, and said the Pentagon had no plan to reduce its 28,500-member force in the South despite budget constraints.

"This is probably the only place in the world where we have always a risk of confrontation," Hagel said after touring a single-story building with a corrugated metal roof where talks are held with North Koreans on Conference Row in the truce village of Panmunjom.