South Korea will take delivery of its first of a new batch of early warning aircraft in July, officials in Seoul say.

"The first 737 airborne early warning and control aircraft is in development test and evaluation after its first tests were complete successfully last June," a procurement official was quoted saying to Defense News.

"Type test and evaluation is scheduled to begin in March before a Korean operation utility demonstration slated for Monday."

The aircraft are being manufactured by Boeing. The first plane is presently being prepared in the United States; the rest remain at the Korean Aerospace Industries in Sacheon, about 300 miles southeast of Seoul.

Details of the planned delivery surfaced as South Korea announced plans to press ahead with joint military exercises with the United States despite threats from North Korea. More than 12,000 U.S. troops are taking part in the drill, alongside 200,000 South Korean soldiers.

The exercise, including live drills and computer simulated war games, is expected to run for 11 days beginning this week.

South Korea and the United States stage regular exercises with their combined forces. The recent drill, though, comes amid heightened tension with North Korea.

Both Seoul and Washington have invited media to cover several of the drills scheduled for the coming weeks, including when railroads are used to move weapons and the air landing of troop reinforcements from other countries, The Wall Street Journal reported.

On the eve of the drill's start, North Korea issued nine statements, saying the United States and South Korea were using the exercise "to stage a pre-emptive nuclear attack" on North Korea.

An estimated 28,500 U.S. troops are based in South Korea to deter potential aggression from North Korea.

Although the Korean War ended in 1953, the countries haven't signed a peace agreement, remaining divided by one of the world's most fortified borders.

Relations between North and South have soured since North Korea's suspected sinking of a South Korean war ship and Pyongyang's artillery shelling of a South Korean island.

Military analysts say the procurement of surveillance aircraft is central to South Korea's pursuit of achieving independent intelligence gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance capability as U.S. troops prepared to hand over operation control prepare in 2015.

The Boeing aircraft early warning aircraft that South Korea has purchased can fly at 41,000 feet and have a top speed of 340 knots. The planes have six common console stations for the crew and "boasts of its commonality with commercial airline fleets for flexibility and support," Defense News reported.

earlier related report
Lee offers talks with N. Korea amid tensions
Seoul (AFP) March 1, 2011 - South Korea's President Lee Myung-Bak called Tuesday for talks with North Korea to ease heightened tensions, and promised the impoverished nation aid if it scraps its nuclear and missile programmes.

The South "is ready to engage in dialogue with the North anytime with an open mind", Lee told a ceremony marking Independence Movement Day.

Cross-border tensions have been high for almost a year, after two deadly border incidents blamed by Seoul on Pyongyang.

On Monday US and South Korean troops launched war games that the North describes as a rehearsal for invasion. It has vowed to turn Seoul into a "sea of flames" in the event of any provocation.

Pyongyang's military has also threatened to open fire on a tourist site at Imjingak in the South, to halt future launches of propaganda leaflets across the heavily fortified border.

Lee, in a speech marking a 1919 campaign for independence against Japanese colonisers, said it was time to sweep away the legacy of the Cold War.

North Korea should join a new wave of peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia, he said.

"There is no reason for South Korea not to help our compatriots in the North when it is helping many other countries," Lee said.

"The North should step forward for serious dialogue and cooperation and refrain from developing nuclear weapons and missiles."

Lee also repeated calls for Pyongyang to take "responsible measures" on past provocations and follow the path of genuine reconciliation.

The South accuses the North of torpedoing a warship in March 2010 near the disputed Yellow Sea border with the loss of 46 lives, a charge it denies.

In November the North shelled a South Korean island near the border, killing two marines and two civilians and sparking outrage in the South.

Military talks intended to improve icy relations broke down last month over the South's demand that the North accept responsibility for the border incidents.

In a sign of continuing high tensions, Defence Minister Kim Kwan-Jin told troops on the border Tuesday to return fire immediately if they come under attack.

"During an operation, don't ask whether to shoot or not. Report after taking action first," he told troops of the First Army Corps, which oversees Imjingak.

The South's military came in for criticism for a perceived feeble response to last November's bombardment.

"Persistent discussions are needed to predict the types of provocation the North may mount," the minister said, urging commanders to use their imagination to forecast attacks.

President Lee has said in the past he is open in principle to a summit with the North's leader Kim Jong-Il. The two sides were widely reported in 2009 to have held initial contacts about such a meeting, but relations have worsened markedly since then.

The Korean peninsula was divided into US and Soviet zones of influence after Japan's 1945 surrender, and into separate countries three years later.

Lee said peaceful unification was the way to complete the work of independence began 92 years ago and the South would bolster its capacity to handle eventual reunification.

He has proposed a unification tax to help meet the potentially huge cost of reunifying the South with its vastly poorer neighbour.