Vice President Kamala Harris visited the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that separates South Korea and North Korea and touted America’s alliance with the communist “Republic of Korea.” Watch:
“The United States shares a very important relationship, which is an alliance with the Republic of North Korea,” Harris said.
Harris, in her first visit to the DMZ that divides the two Koreas, also said the border represented the “dramatically different paths” the two sides that the formerly united country had taken.
“In the North, we see a brutal dictatorship, rampant human rights violations and an unlawful weapons program that threatens peace and stability,” Harris said.
“The United States and the world seek a stable and peaceful Korean peninsula where the DPRK is no longer a threat,” she said. DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which is North Korea’s official name.
Meanwhile, Harris held diplomatic talks with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, where Harris condemned North Korea’s series of missile tests, the latest having been conducted on Wednesday.
“They condemned the DPRK’s provocative nuclear rhetoric and ballistic missile launches,” a White House statement said. “They discussed our response to potential future provocations, including through trilateral cooperation with Japan.”
Kamala Harris also toured the DMZ, as reported by Fox News:
Harris began her visit by stopping at the Camp Bonifas Dining Facility and thanking American service members. She used binoculars to observe the DMZ, which is roughly 160 miles long and 2.5 miles wide. The vice president then headed to Observation Post Ouellette to give her speech about her commitment to South Korea’s security.
Shortly before the DMZ visit, Harris met with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and praised the U.S.-South Korean alliance as a “linchpin of security and prosperity.” She and Yoon also discussed South Korea’s economic and technology partnerships with the United States earlier on Thursday, in addition to a gender equity roundtable.
Harris’ visit also drew criticism from Republican critics, who accused the “Border Czar” of neglecting the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border, while going abroad to give a speech at the South Korean-North Korean border.
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