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U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris Ends Asia Tour, Stops in Demilitarized Zone, Splits South Korea

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Korea Harris Asia
Korea Harris Asia

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris wrapped up her four-day trip to Asia, where she stopped at the Demilitarized Zone that separates the Korean peninsula, underscoring America’s “ironclad certainty” about the security of its Asian allies in the face of an increasingly hostile North Korea promise.

The visit comes after North Korea’s recent missile launch and fears that the country could conduct a nuclear test.

Visits to the demilitarized zone have become a ritual for U.S. leaders who want to show their determination to stand firm against aggression.

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles on Wednesday, while Ms Harris was in Japan and fired one before leaving Washington on Sunday.

The launches contributed to this year’s record level of missile tests aimed at bringing North Korea closer to being recognized as a full-fledged nuclear power.

In the DMZ, Ms Harris went to the top of a ridge, near guard towers and security cameras.

Korea Harris Asia
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris uses binoculars at a military observation post as she inspects the Demilitarized Zone separating the two North Koreas in Panmunjom, South Korea (Leah Millis/Pool Photo via AP)

As a South Korean officer pointed to a military installation to the south, she looked through bulky binoculars. A U.S. officer then pointed to some defenses along the Military Demarcation Line, including barbed wire fencing and Claymore mines. U.S. soldiers routinely patrol the trail, he said.

“It’s so close,” Ms Harris said.

Ms Harris then toured one of a row of blue buildings straddling the dividing line, where a US official explained how the buildings were still being used to negotiate with North Korea. Sometimes they pass messages back and forth, sometimes they use megaphones, he said.

“That’s high tech,” joked Ms. Harris, before adding, “We’ve entered history.”

“It goes on,” said the colonel.

Ms Harris agreed. “It was and is happening every day.”

Then she walked out of the building and walked to the dividing line. On the North Korean side, two figures in what appeared to be hazmat suits peeked out from behind the curtains of the second-floor window. Then they disappeared inside again.

Korea Harris Asia
Kamala Harris stands next to the dividing line in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates the two North Koreas (Leah Millis/Pool Photo via AP)

Ms Harris described the North Korean missile launch as a provocation aimed at “destabilizing the region” and said the United States and South Korea remained committed to the “complete denuclearization” of North Korea.

“I can’t say that America’s commitment to defending the Republic of Korea is ironclad,” she said.

“In the South, we saw burgeoning democracy. In the North, we saw brutal dictatorship,” she said before flying over the border in a U.S. military helicopter.

Earlier, Ms. Harris met South Korean President Yoon Se-yeol at her office in Seoul and reiterated the US commitment to defend South Korea with its full range of military capabilities in the event of war, Mr. Yoon’s office said.

They expressed concern about the threat of a nuclear conflict in North Korea and promised a stronger response to North Korea’s major provocations, including a nuclear test, without specifying specifics.

Ms Harris and Mr Yoon are also expected to discuss expanding economic and technological partnerships and repairing recent tensions between South Korea and Japan to strengthen their trilateral cooperation with Washington in the region.

Their meeting also involved Taiwan, and both sides reiterated their respective countries’ support for “peace and stability” in the Taiwan Strait, without elaborating, according to Yin’s office.

Korea Harris Asia
Kamala Harris and South Korean President Yoon Si-yeol hold a bilateral meeting in Seoul (Leah Millis/Pool Photo via AP)

Ms Harris’ trip was arranged to attend the state funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, but her trip was largely driven by safety concerns, reflecting concerns about China’s growing power and North Korea’s ramping up testing activities.

At each meeting, Harris sought to quell concerns that the U.S. was faltering in its commitment to protecting its allies, describing U.S. partnerships with South Korea and Japan as “key” and “cornerstone” of its defense strategy in Asia.

Mr. Yoon, who took office earlier this year, vowed on the campaign trail to deepen Seoul’s economic and security partnership with Washington to address challenges posed by the North Korean threat and address potential supply chain risks posed by the pandemic, U.S.-China competition and Russia’s war against Ukraine. But tensions have recently emerged in the alliance.

South Koreans have denounced a new law signed by U.S. President Joe Biden that bars electric vehicles made outside North America from qualifying for U.S. government subsidies, undermining the competitiveness of automakers such as Seoul-based Hyundai Motor.

During their meeting, Ms. Harris told Mr. Yin that Washington would work to address South Korea’s concerns as the law was implemented, Mr. Yoon’s office said.

Scott Snyder, an analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the electric car battle has quickly become a storm that U.S. officials cannot ignore, although there may be no easy solution.

“The urgency of it makes it a political issue to manage,” Mr Snyder said. “I don’t know that a Biden administration would easily do that.”

Korea Harris Asia
Kamala Harris and Yoon Suk Yeol hold a bilateral meeting in Seoul (Leah Millis/Pool Photo via AP)

Following the meeting with Mr. Yin, the first female vice president of the United States, Ms. Harris, held a roundtable with female leaders on gender equality.

Mr Yin has been criticised for the lack of female representation in the government and his downplaying of wider inequalities.

“If we want to strengthen democracy, we have to focus on gender equality,” said Ms Harris, who also raised the issue with Mr Yin.

There are signs that North Korea may soon step up its weapons display once it tries to pressure Washington to accept it as a nuclear power.

South Korean officials said last week that they had seen signs that North Korea was preparing to test a ballistic missile system designed to be launched from submarines.

The U.S. aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan will train alongside South Korean and Japanese warships in waters off the Korean peninsula on Friday, South Korea’s navy said on Thursday, in the first trilateral anti-submarine exercise between the two countries since 2017 to counter North Korea Submarine threat.

U.S. and South Korean officials also said North Korea may be preparing for its first nuclear test since 2017. The test could take place after China’s Communist Party National Congress the week of Oct. 16, but before the U.S. midterm elections on Nov. 8, according to Seoul’s spy agency.

North Korea has repeatedly interrupted its tests with threats of nuclear conflict. Its rubber-stamp parliament this month authorized the pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons in a wide range of situations where its leadership is threatened.

Nuclear diplomacy between the U.S. and North Korea has stalled since 2019 amid disagreements over easing severe U.S.-led economic sanctions on North Korea in exchange for North Korea’s disarmament steps.

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