Obama to Visit DMZ

Published on 2012/03/12 | Source

U.S. President Barack Obama plans to visit the Demilitarized Zone during his time in Korea attending the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, it was reported on Sunday.

South Korea and the U.S. are discussing what message to deliver to North Korea during Obama's visit, a diplomatic source said Sunday.

"Obama could make a speech expressing the concerns of the international community about North Korea and the U.S'. determination to keep the alliance with South Korea strong", the source added.

Obama is also considering visiting Camp Bonifas, a U.S. Army base in the DMZ. It will be Obama's first visit to the otherwise uninhabited buffer zone between the two Koreas.

The White House apparently wants to affirm the alliance with Seoul and impress on the regime of new North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that it must give up its nuclear arms program. The two allies discussed details of the DMZ trip when Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan visited Washington recently.