U.S. VP Harris set to go to Korean DMZ after Kim’s missile check By Reuters

By Trevor Hunnicutt

TOKYO (Reuters) -U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will go to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the Koreas on Thursday in a bid to indicate Washington’s dedication to the South’s safety, in response to U.S. and South Korean officers.

The go to, introduced on Tuesday, comes days after North Korea fired a ballistic missile in direction of the ocean and amid fears of a potential nuclear check because the Biden administration’s makes an attempt at outreach to North Korean chief Kim Jong Un have failed.

Harris’ go to, which might be the primary by a senior Biden administration official, was publicly introduced by South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo throughout a gathering with the U.S. vp in Tokyo and was later confirmed by a U.S. official.

On Monday in New York, the North Korean ambassador to the United Nations, Kim Track, accused Washington of pursuing hostile insurance policies that had been inflicting a “vicious cycle of rigidity and confrontation.”

A U.S. plane service is within the space for joint drills with the South Korean navy this week in what Kim known as an “extraordinarily harmful act” that might drive the peninsula to the brink of battle.

Harris is within the area to steer a U.S. presidential delegation to the funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday.

The DMZ go to will underscore the power of the alliance between Seoul and Washington “within the face of any threats posed” by North Korea, mentioned the U.S. official, who requested to not be named discussing a visit that Harris has not formally introduced.

Harris will tour the DMZ, meet with service members, obtain an operational briefing from U.S. commanders, mirror on the shared sacrifice of American and South Korean troopers and reaffirm the “ironclad” dedication to South Korean safety, the official added.

“Your go to to the DMZ and Seoul might be very symbolic demonstrations of your sturdy commitments to safety and peace on the Korean Peninsula,” Han mentioned.

A number of former U.S. presidents, and Biden himself earlier than he grew to become president, have visited the DMZ, however former President Donald Trump grew to become the primary to have met a North Korean chief there when he held a 3rd assembly with Kim Jong Un in 2019 as a part of his unsuccessful effort to steer Kim to surrender his nuclear and missile applications.

The DMZ is usually described because the world’s final Chilly Conflict frontier and has existed because the 1950-53 Korean Conflict resulted in a armistice moderately than a peace treaty.