The request follows growing security jitters caused by a US plan to slash its 37,000-strong military contingent here by one third.

The South Korean defense ministry called for 21.4 trillion wonbillion dollars) for next year's defense budget, up 13.4 percent from this year.

The proposed spending would account for 2.9 percent of South Korea's gross domestic product, up from this year's 2.8 percent, it said.

Military officials said a sharp rise in spending was inevitable because of US troop realignment on the peninsula, which has remained split since the 1950-53 Korean War.

"Following the relocation of US troops in South Korea, the Defense Ministry presented a vision for self-reliant defense," Major General Won Jang-Hwan, a top procurement officer, told Yonhap news agency.

South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun has advocated building up an independent defence capability without reliance on the United States.

Seoul would need to spend more than three percent of GDP on the military to achieve that goal, analysts say.

The ministry wants more money for airborne reconnaissance, new surface-to-air missiles and upgraded communications surveillance equipment.

Other projects include the acquisition of new fighter jets, advanced armored vehicles, Aegis-equipped destroyers and integrated weapons systems to counter North Korean artillery targetting Seoul.

Earlier this week Washington said it wanted to pull 12,500 troops out of the peninsula by the end of 2005.

The announcement came during talks on the realignment of US forces away from the tense border to locations south of Seoul.

South Korean officials said the announcement was no more than an initial proposal.

Broad agreement has been reached on the relocation of US forces but the troop cut proposal triggered alarm in a country gripped by uncertainty for the past 20 months over the Stalinist state's nuclear weapons drive.

South Korea, which is still technically at war with the North, wants the timeframe to be pushed back to between 2007 and 2113 to allow for upgrade of its own military forces.

US ground forces have played a key role in deterring North Korea.

But Washington now believes it can do the job more effectively with long distance precision firepower and at the same time lighten a ground presence that has been the source of controversy in the south.

WAR.WIRE