Will President Trump visit the world's most dangerous place on the Korean peninsula?

Yonhap news agency quoted a defense source as saying on October 10 that US President Donald Trump may visit the border area between North Korea and South Korea in early November.

President Donald Trump. Photo: Reuters

YonhapCiting an unnamed defense source, the White House said that since late September, it has sent an advance team of US officials to survey a number of suitable locations on the border between North Korea and South Korea before President Donald Trump makes an official trip to the area in early November.

“They looked around the Panmunjom truce village and the Ouellette observation post,” the source said, referring to two locations in the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating North and South Korea.

“Mr. Trump may also visit outpost islands such as Yeonpyeong-do or Baengnyeong-do,” the source added.

According to the source, through his words or actions, President Trump will send a strong message to North Korea during his first trip to South Korea and the Korean peninsula as the Supreme Commander of the US military.

“Mr. Trump is likely to make this trip and his aides are making the necessary preparations,” the source revealed.

The visit to South Korea is part of President Trump’s Asia tour. The US leader is expected to visit a series of countries such as Japan, China, Vietnam and the Philippines, starting from November 2. However, the specific schedule of this trip has not been officially announced by the White House.

If President Trump visits the truce village of Panmunjom, the US leader will likely come face to face with North Korean soldiers, who are armed and stationed in the area.

Former US President Barack Obama visited the Ouellette Observatory in 2012 and observed North Korea through binoculars. In April, Vice President Mike Pence also visited Camp Bonifas - the command base for US-led UN forces, just a few hundred meters south of the DMZ.

The Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) is a 250 km long and 4 km wide strip of land that runs across the Korean Peninsula and separates the border between North and South Korea. Both North and South Korean troops are present in the DMZ, with tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides.

In addition, the DMZ is densely equipped with minefields, barbed wire fences, electronic fences, surveillance cameras and military checkpoints. In the south of the DMZ is where American troops are stationed.
Technically, North and South Korea have been at war since 1953. In 1993, former US President Bill Clinton called the DMZ “the scariest place on earth.”

According to Dan Tri