Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are set to visit the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas on Monday. The visit comes a day ahead of their annual security talks and is part of Hegseth's trip to South Korea. It marks the first joint visit by the allies' defense chiefs since October 2017.
Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are scheduled to visit the Joint Security Area (JSA) inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on Monday. The trip is part of Hegseth's two-day visit to South Korea, marking his first trip there as the final stop on an Asia swing that includes Japan, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
This would be the first joint visit to the JSA by the allies' defense chiefs since October 2017, when then-Defense Minister Song Young-moo and then-U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis toured the area. During his stay, Hegseth is expected to meet Korean and American troops stationed at the DMZ and visit Camp Humphreys, a sprawling U.S. military base 65 kilometers south of Seoul, to thank service members and their families.
On Tuesday, Ahn and Hegseth will hold the allies' annual defense dialogue, known as the Security Consultative Meeting, to discuss a range of alliance issues, including policy coordination on North Korea and their combined defense posture.