US Vice President Pence visits Korean demilitarized zone amid rising tensions

The vice president of the United States on Monday visited the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that separates the two Koreas at a moment of heightened tension with Pyongyang amid repeated weapons tests.


A few meters from the tense border with North Korea, Mike Pence once again stressed the importance of the alliance between Washington and Seoul and the determination of the American people and president to resolve the situation through peaceful means.

However, Pence said the US has run out of patience and that all options are on the table for achieving the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, as he hinted at the possibility of using military action if necessary.

Pence was transported from central Seoul in a Blackhawk military helicopter to Camp Bonifas, a military compound near the DMZ named after one of two US soldiers killed by North Korean troops in an incident there in 1976.

The DMZ is a four-kilometer-wide strip full of mines that crosses the border between the two Koreas, who have technically been at war for more than 65 years.

It is the only point where North and South Korean troops come face to face, and tensions there between Pyongyang and Seoul are palpable.
 EFE/EPA
17/4/17
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