US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas as part of his two-day visit to South Korea to discuss security issues, the Associated Press reports, BTA reports.
Together with his South Korean counterpart, Ahn Gyu-pak, Hegseth listened to a report from military commanders at the observation post "Wallet", near the demarcation line. This is the same place that President Donald Trump visited in 2019 to peer into North Korea and meet with American soldiers.
The two ministers also visited the border village of Panmunjom - a symbolic place where the armistice was signed of the Korean War (1950-1953). According to the South Korean Ministry of Defense, the visit confirmed the “firm common defense position and close cooperation“ between the allies.
Hegseth did not specifically mention North Korea, which in recent years has refused dialogue and continues to develop its nuclear and missile arsenal, the AP notes.
At the same time, the chiefs of the general staffs of the two countries - General Jin Yong-song and General Dan Kane - watched a joint flight of F-16 fighter jets over the US base in Pyeongtaek. The flight, carried out for the first time, demonstrated the “unwavering common defense position“ of the partners.
Ahn and Hegseth will participate in the annual allied security meeting in Seoul tomorrow, where they will discuss key topics such as increasing South Korean defense spending and implementing the agreement on operational control of military actions.
There are concerns in Seoul that the Trump administration may ask South Korea to shoulder more of the cost of US troops or reduce its presence in the region.
Hegseth's visit follows President Trump's visit, who met with South Korean President Lee Jae-myeon and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Cooperation (APCC) forum. During the meeting, Lee reaffirmed his country's commitment to increasing the defense budget and called for US support for the construction of nuclear submarines.
Trump subsequently said that the United States would provide South Korea with secret technology that would allow it to produce a nuclear submarine at the Philadelphia shipyard acquired last year from the South Korean concern “Hanwha“.
The two leaders have also made progress on trade issues, discussing investments worth $350 billion dollars that Seoul will make in the United States in order to avoid a possible increase in tariffs on South Korean goods, reports the AP.