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Obama Korea DMZ

March 21, 2012 by · Comments Off on Obama Korea DMZ 

Obama Korea DMZ, President Obama will visit the Demilitarized Zone between South Korea and North Korea when he travels to Seoul next week for a two-day summit on nuclear security, White House officials announced Tuesday.

“It’s an important opportunity for him to meet with and see some of the American troops that are serving on the Korean Peninsula while also underscoring the strength of our alliance with the Republic of Korea and our strong commitment to their security,” said Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser for strategic communications.

Obama’s visit to the DMZ comes at a moment when the Kim Jong Un regime has been sending conflicting messages about North Korea’s nuclear program. Last month, North Korea agreed to suspend long-range missile tests and admit International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors into the country, while the United States agreed to send Pyongyang 240,000 tons of food. More recently, the North Koreans announced plans for a rocket launch to send a satellite into space

Kim was elevated as supreme leader of the hermetic regime after his father, Kim Jong Il, died in December.

The U.S. has 28,500 troops based in South Korea, and the North and South remain technically at war.

This will be Obama’s third visit to South Korea, but the first time he has made the trip to the DMZ. George W. Bush visited in 2002, Bill Clinton in 1993 and Ronald Reagan in 1983.

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