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South Korean President Moon Jae-in and first lady Kim Jung-sook join US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump near the Blue House on Nov. 7, 2017.
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If Moon accompanies him, it will be first joint visit by US and S. Korean presidents
The South Korean and US governments are reportedly in the late stages of coordinating plans for a DMZ visit by US President Donald Trump during his visit to South Korea at the end of this month. Multiple government officials told the Hankyoreh on June 23 that they were aware of late-stage coordination between Seoul and Washington over the schedule for Trump to visit the DMZ – which he was unable to visit during his last South Korea stay – when he visits Seoul on June 29–30 for a bilateral summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Trump is scheduled to visit South Korea for a two-day stay on June 29, shortly after attending the G20 Summit in Osaka on June 28–29. With Trump predicted to arrive in Seoul in the early or late evening of June 29 following the G20 summit, the DMZ visit is expected to take place during the second day of his South Korea visit on June 30. Trump has planned to visit the DMZ with President Moon while in Seoul for a bilateral summit on Nov. 7–8, 2017, but the visit was canceled at the last minute due to factors including fog and yellow dust that reduced visibility at the DMZ to around 25m and rendered helicopter landings difficult. In light of precedent, observers are watching to see if Moon accompanies Trump on the visit to the DMZ. If he does, it will be the first time the South Korean and US heads of state visit the DMZ together. While several US presidents have visited the DMZ on their own in the past – including Ronald Reagan in 1983, Bill Clinton in 1993, and Barack Obama in 2012 – the South Korean and US presidents have never visited it jointly. By Noh Ji-won, staff reporter Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
