South Korean soldiers check a military iron fence in the border city of Paju near the demilitarized zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas, on March 27, 2013. (AFP/Files/Jung Yeon-Je)
WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump will not be going to the De-Militarized Zone dividing the Korean peninsula when he visits South Korea next week, a senior administration official said Tuesday.
The decision to skip the DMZ at a time of high tensions with nuclear-armed North Korea was attributed to time constraints.
“The president is not going to visit the DMZ, there is not enough time in the schedule,” the official said.
South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in (L) listens as US President Donald Trump speaks to the press before a meeting at New York’s Palace Hotel during the 72nd UN General Assembly on September 21, 2017. (AFP Photo/Brendan Smialowski)
Trump, who departs Friday on a five-nation Asian tour with world attention on North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, will instead visit Camp Humphreys, which is south of Seoul and away from the DMZ, the official said.
The DMZ, a razor’s edge separating North and South Korean forces, is a common stop for visiting presidents and other high-level US officials wanting to see one of the world’s most dangerous flashpoints.
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US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis (L) shakes hands with South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-Moo (R) as they visit the truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on the border between North and South Korea, on October 27, 2017. (AFP Photo/Pool/Jung Yeon-Je)
But the senior administration official downplayed the decision not to go.
“We just had Secretary Mattis there last week, we had Vice President Pence there earlier this year,” the official said, referring to Pentagon chief Jim Mattis and Trump’s number two, Mike Pence.
“It’s becoming a little bit of a cliche, frankly.”
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