US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will fly to Seoul later this week for an annual Washington-Seoul defense chiefs' talks, announced South Korean Ministry of Defense (MND) on Tuesday.

The US defense chief will arrive in South Korea on Thursday and attend the one-day Security Consultative Meeting with his South Korean counterpart Yoon Kwang-ung on Friday, according to a statement of the MND.

High on the agenda for the one-day meeting will be South Korea's moves to regain full operational control of its troops from the US Forces Korea (USFK) and take over major security roles from the American forces, it said.

"The two sides will discuss joint research into a 'vision for the future South Korea-US alliance' and the need to push for consultations on the joint command systems, including the wartime operational control," the statement said.

South Korea transferred the operational control of its military to the US-led UN command shortly after the Korean War (1950-1953) broke out in 1950.

South Korea took back the peacetime operational control of its forces in 1994 but its wartime control remains in the hands of commander of the USFK.

The US currently has 32,500 troops here, and will cut further 7, 500 troops before 2008.

While, South Korea maintains 681,000 military troops, the world 's sixth-largest military.

The annual talks will also deal with joint efforts to prevent possible terrorist attacks during November's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in South Korea, the MND's statement said.

During his Seoul trip, Rumsfeld is also to meet with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon and other top local officials.

Rumsfeld is scheduled to leave here on Saturday for a trip to Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Lithuania.

Source: Xinhua