Briefly

SOUTH KOREA

Plans announced to improve military

SEOUL — The Defense Ministry announced plans yesterday to streamline its military and enhance firepower in response to a change in security ties with the United States. Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-Ung said there would be no immediate change in conscription, in which South Korean men older than 20 serve in the military for two years.

The moves — calling for a gradual troop reduction, consolidation of army bases and more spending on high-tech equipment — came after remarks by President Roh Moo-hyun that South Korea should be less dependent on the United States for its defense. The ministry plans to seek parliamentary approval for its reforms by October.

South Korea’s military has been centered on ground troops, with its sea and air defense bolstered by U.S. forces. South Korean military officials have visited France to observe its military reforms, which focused more on expeditionary capabilities rather than traditional territorial defense.

THAILAND

Troops in south woo restive Muslims

BANGTAWA — Thai troops turn to gardening, not guns, to curb unrest.

Armed with brooms instead of rifles, a half-dozen Thai soldiers leaping off their truck in a sleepy fishing village are the new “friendly face” of security forces in the restive Muslim south.

At least 30,000 troops and police have been deployed in the three southernmost provinces to combat a wave of guerrilla bombings and shootings that has claimed more than 600 lives since January last year. Until recently, military checkpoints and soldiers cruising around in armored Humvees gave the region the feel of a region at war.

Now, the Buddhist authorities are on a charm offensive directed at Muslims, who make up 80 percent of the region’s population, to calm the anger stoked by the violence.

INDONESIA

Pygmy community discovered on Flores

JAKARTA — Indonesian scientists have found a community of Pygmies in the eastern island of Flores near a village where Australian scientists discovered a dwarf-size skeleton last year and declared it a new human species, a newspaper reported yesterday.

The daily Kompas said the community was found during an April 18-24 expedition to the village of Rampapasa, about a half-mile from the village of Liang Bua, where the species called Homo floresiensis was found in September.

The newspaper quoted Koeshardjono, a biologist who discovered the Pygmy village, as saying that 77 families were living in the village. Teuku Jacob, a professor at Gadjah Mada University who led the human anthropology research team, said 80 percent of the Rampapasa villagers are of small stature, with most adults under 4 feet, 9 inches tall.

Weekly notes …

Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare held a meeting of specialists yesterday to study a labor system that would allow white-collar workers to work longer hours. Current law limits overtime work per week to up to 40 hours, but the ministry seeks to double that in 2007. Critics say such a move might increase the number of deaths from overwork and suicide. … Yoshinori Ono, director-general of Japan’s Defense Agency, is to visit the Philippines and Australia in a four-day trip starting Sunday. He is to meet Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Australian Defense Minister Robert Hill and other politicians in both countries. Mr. Ono said: “I would like to show my appreciation to Australia for deploying additional troops to Iraq,” where they protect Japanese forces deployed there for humanitarian aid work.

From wire dispatches and staff reports