Harris' trip to DMZ will highlight U.S. commitment to security of S. Korea: U.S. official

By Byun Duk-kun

WASHINGTON, Sept. 27 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris' visit to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) will underscore the U.S.' commitment to the defense of South Korea, a senior U.S. official said Tuesday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also said the trip had been planned for weeks, despite the sudden announcement of plans this week.

"The key messaging that she's talking about on this trip is how our defense commitments are ironclad," the administration official said of Harris' trip to DMZ in a press briefing in Tokyo, according to the White House.

"We know there's been a lot of discussions with the Koreans about extended deterrence commitments. And to really put those words into action, we believe it's a powerful signal of that," the official added.

South Korea and the U.S. held their first meeting of the Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group in nearly five years in Washington earlier this month.

The U.S. vice president is set to arrive in South Korea on Thursday, following her ongoing visit to Japan to attend the funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Her planned visit to the DMZ came to light on Tuesday (Seoul time) when she met with the head of South Korea's delegation to Abe's funeral, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who said Harris' trip to the heavily-fortified area inside of the four-kilometer wide inter-Korean border will be a "symbolic move" for the Korea-U.S. alliance.

The U.S. administration official said they already had plans to announce Harris' trip to the DMZ when asked if the South Korean prime minister may have overstepped and forced such an announcement.

"We were comfortable with it. We were going, obviously, to announce it soon anyway," the official was quoted as saying.

The official said the vice president's trip to the DMZ will also send a message to South Korea that the U.S. continues to be focused on North Korea while dealing with other major issues.

"I think the vice president showing up there makes very clear to our friends and allies in South Korea that even when there are other threats in the region -- you know, to Taiwan, which is more important, whatever -- we are not losing sight of the fact that the DPRK remains a real threat," the official said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)