Top U.S. defense officials inspected U.S. and South Korean troops Tuesday, a day after they discussed the hotly-debated topic of Seoul's impending dispatch of additional troops to Iraq.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld flew by helicopter to Camp Casey, the headquarters of the 2nd U.S. Infantry Division where here he lunched with and gave words of encouragement to U.S. soldiers.

Rumsfeld was scheduled to visit Osan Air Base, the headquarters of the U.S. Air Force in South Korea, before flying out of the country later in the afternoon.

The relocating of the only U.S. infantry division in South Korea was a major topic that remained unresolved after Rumsfeld met his South Korean counterpart, Cho Young-kil, during an annual security consultative meeting on Monday.

The allies agreed in June to relocate by 2006 the 15,000-member division away from the border with North Korea to two bases south of Seoul Pyeongtaek and Osan but details for the move have yet to be worked out.

U.S. officials have indicated that consolidation of their military bases in South Korea, including their headquarters in the center of Seoul, could result in a reduction of 37,000 American troops currently stationed in the country.