Obama administration creates Korean land mine exception

WASHINGTON - Three months after announcing its intention to ban land mines, the Obama administration is carving out an exception for its stockpile on the Korean Peninsula.

The U.S. administers land mines in South Korea in case of an invasion from the North.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki says the administration will destroy stockpiles outside of the Korean Peninsula. But officials say the peninsula presents "unique circumstances" and protecting South Korea remains a "paramount concern."

Psaki says the administration's goal is that the U.S. ultimately would join the Ottawa Convention, an international treaty of 161 other nations banning land mines. But Psaki says for now, the U.S. policy will work toward the "spirit and humanitarian aims" of the global treaty. The Pentagon says Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel "fully supports" the changes.