Vice President Kamala Harris will visit the Korean Demilitarized Zone that divides North and South Korea on Thursday as part of her visit to South Korea, a White House official said.
The Harris trip will include site visits at the DMZ, meetings with service members, and an operational briefing from US commanders, as well as the US commitment to stand beside South Korea in the face of threats from North Korea, the official said.
Harris said that the US commitment to the ROK's defense is ironclad and will reflect on the shared sacrifice of tens of thousands of American and Korean soldiers who fought and died together. The DMZ is a 160 miles long no-man s land about 30 miles north of Seoul that was established in the 1953 Korean War Armistice Agreement. It is often referred to as the world's most heavily armed border.
The news of Harris visit came first during a bilateral between her and South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, according to reporters traveling with the vice president as she leads a US delegation to Japan for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's state funeral.
According to a report from the pool, Harris said that your visit to the DMZ and Seoul will be a symbolic demonstration of your commitments to the security and peace of the Korean Peninsula.
The unplanned announcement by the prime minister appeared to surprise reporters and White House aides. An official said the stop was made to reporters.
Last month, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said a congressional delegation traveled to South Korea and visited the Korean Demilitarized Zone.
Pelosi said the delegation was honored to be hosted at a parliamentary meeting where we reaffirmed our commitment to the U.S.-Korean alliance and was pleased to engage in a phone meeting with Korea's President Yoon Suk-yeol.