Obama to visit inter-Korean border
US President Barack Obama will visit the border area between North and South Korea during his time attending a nuclear summit in Seoul later this month.
US and South Korean soldiers stand guard in the Demilitarized Zone on the inter-Korean border. Photo:wikimedia
South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo quoted a diplomatic source as saying that Mr. Obama will visit the demilitarized zone (DMZ) on the inter-Korean border when he arrives in South Korea to attend the Nuclear Security Summit from March 26 to 27. "Mr. Obama is expected to speak about the international community's concerns about North Korea, as well as strengthening the US-South Korea alliance," the source said.
Yonhap news agency also reported on Obama's planned visit to the DMZ, a heavily fortified area surrounded by barbed wire and minefields that divides the Korean peninsula. President Obama may also meet with US troops at the border during his first visit to the DMZ. The US has had about 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea since the 1950-1953 Korean War.
The White House said the US president's visit to the DMZ was intended to demonstrate the strength of the US-South Korea alliance and send a message to the Pyongyang regime under General Kim Jong-un. The two allies discussed details of the visit when South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan arrived.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the South Korean presidential office said plans to visit the DMZ had not yet been decided, although Seoul confirmed that Mr. Obama would be present at the upcoming nuclear summit. A spokesman for the U.S. embassy said he had no information on the matter.
The tense inter-Korean border has hosted several US leaders in the past, including former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, who once described it as "the scariest place on earth."
North Korea agreed last month to halt its nuclear program in exchange for food aid from the United States. The decision raised hopes of resuming six-party talks on nuclear disarmament and improving tense relations between North Korea and the international community. However, Pyongyang has maintained a hostile tone toward its neighbor South Korea and President Lee Myung-bak, a close ally of Mr. Obama. Both countries have conducted live-fire exercises near their border in recent days and repeatedly threatened each other. North Korea also criticized the nuclear summit as a "lack of a joke" aimed at paving the way for a nuclear attack by South Korea and the United States.
Meanwhile, security for the conference is being tightened by South Korea. Washington and Seoul are also considering using a US military reconnaissance plane to prevent potential attacks from North Korea during the conference.
According to Express
