U.S. President Joe Biden is contemplating a visit to the Korean Demilitarized Zone when he visits Asia later this month, White House press secretary Jen Psaki stated on Thursday.
Biden is predicted to go to South Korea and Japan from May 20-24 and maintain talks together with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts.
Psaki stated the White House was nonetheless finalizing particulars of the Asia schedule however a visit to the closely fortified DMZ separating the 2 Koreas is a step that’s taken by many who go to the area.
Several former U.S. presidents, and Biden himself earlier than he turned president, have visited the DMZ, however former President Donald Trump turned the primary to have met a North Korean chief there when he held a 3rd assembly with Kim Jong Un in June 2019 as a part of his unsuccessful effort to influence him to surrender his nuclear and missile packages.
The DMZ is usually described because the world’s final Cold War frontier and has existed for the reason that 1950-53 Korean War led to a armistice slightly than a peace treaty.
Psaki repeated a U.S. evaluation that North Korea could possibly be able to conduct a seventh nuclear take a look at as early as this month. North Korea has not examined a nuclear bomb since 2017, however resumed testing of intercontinental ballistic missiles this yr.
“We shared this information with allies and partners and are closely coordinating with them,” Psaki stated.
North Korea has lately stepped up weapons exams and resumed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launches this yr for the primary time since 2017.
U.S. and South Korean officers have been saying for weeks that there are indicators of latest development at Punggye-ri, North Korea’s solely identified nuclear take a look at web site, and that Pyongyang may quickly take a look at one other bomb.
North Korea fired three ballistic missiles in direction of the ocean off its east coast on Thursday, South Korea and Japan stated, in its newest exams aimed toward advancing its weapons packages, even because it reported a COVID-19 outbreak for the primary time.
In condemning the most recent launch, the U.S. State Department stated it remained dedicated to a diplomatic strategy with North Korea and reiterated a name for Pyongyang to return to dialogue.
