U.S. Defense Secretary Visits Korea’s Demilitarized Zone
(MENAFN) US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made a striking first visit to South Korea on Monday, standing at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and peering across the border into North Korea.
He was joined by South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back, media reported.
The two defense leaders toured Observation Post Ouellette, a UN Command facility near the Military Demarcation Line, as well as the Joint Security Area within the DMZ. This marks the first joint visit by US and South Korean defense chiefs to the buffer zone since 2017.
The UN Command has maintained oversight of armistice conditions since the Korean War erupted in 1950.
Stretching 250 kilometers (155 miles), the DMZ separates South and North Korea, which remain technically at war, as the 1950-1953 conflict ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
Hegseth and Ahn are slated to hold a security consultative meeting on Tuesday, during which Hegseth is also expected to meet President Lee Jae Myung.
The discussions are expected to cover issues including the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) from Washington to Seoul and South Korea's defense spending.
The administration of President Lee is aiming to reclaim wartime OPCON from the US within its current five-year term, which concludes in 2030.
Historic Military Flight
South Korea, one of the US’ oldest allies in Asia, hosts approximately 28,500 American troops on the peninsula. While South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff control military forces in peacetime, wartime operational authority rests with the US-led Combined Forces Command.
Operational control of South Korean forces was placed under the US-led UN Command during the Korean War and shifted to the Combined Forces Command in 1978. South Korea regained peacetime control of its military in 1994, but wartime OPCON has remained under US authority.
The DMZ visit concludes Hegseth’s Asia tour, which included stops in Japan, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
On Monday, the two nations’ military chiefs also carried out a historic joint commander’s flight—the first in the history of the alliance.
According to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Jin Yong-sung, chairman of the JCS, and his US counterpart, Gen. Dan Caine, led a combined formation flight in South Korean and US fighter jets following the 50th Military Committee Meeting in Seoul.
The flight involved five aircraft, including the KF-16 piloted by Jin and the F-16 flown by Caine.
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