SEOUL, South Korea – U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced
Tuesday that he and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will make
an unprecedented trip together to the Demilitarized Zone dividing the
two Koreas.
Gates said he and Clinton will visit the DMZ on
Wednesday, meeting with U.S. and South Korean troops protecting one of
the world's most heavily fortified borders. It would be the first time
the United States' top diplomat and defense chief visit the DMZ together.
The two Koreas technically remain in a state of war
because their three-year conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty,
in 1953. The U.S., which fought on the South Korean side, keeps 28,500 troops in South
Korea to protect its ally against any aggression.
"Tomorrow Secretary Clinton and I, along with our
Korean counterparts, will visit the DMZ to highlight how important
operations are there to the security of the peninsula as well as the
region and demonstrate our steadfast commitment" to South Korea, Gates
said during a visit Tuesday morning to Camp Casey, a U.S. base near the
DMZ.
Gates' trip, which began Monday night, comes amid
continuing tension on the Korean peninsula over the March 26 sinking of a
South Korean warship.
An international investigation concluded in May that a
North Korean submarine fired a torpedo that sank the warship near the
tense Korean sea border, killing 46 South Korean sailors. North Korea
flatly denies the accusations, and has warned any punishment would
trigger war.
Gates was to meet later Tuesday with his South Korean
counterpart, Defense Minister Kim Tae-young.
On Wednesday, Gates will be joined by Clinton for the
DMZ visit and high-profile security talks with their South Korean
colleagues — a meeting meant to underscore Washington's firm alliance
with Seoul as the two nations plan military exercises in a message of
deterrence to North Korea.
The talks initially were arranged to commemorate the
60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War and to discuss long-term
strategies in the bilateral alliance.
The U.S. and South Korea are expected to approve a
proposed series of joint military exercise including new naval training
off the west and east coasts, officials said.
"All of these exercises are defensive in nature, but
will send a clear message of deterrence to North Korea and demonstrate
our steadfast commitment to the defense of South Korea," Pentagon
spokesman Geoff Morrell said last week in Washington.