The defense ministers of Korea and the United States jointly visited the Joint Security Area (JSA) at Panmunjom on the afternoon of the 3rd. Attention centered on the two ministers' message to North Korea during their visit to the JSA, but there were no remarks about the North. Minister Ahn Gyu-baek of the Ministry of National Defense said the mere fact that the two ministers came to the JSA in person was "a strong message."
According to the Ministry of National Defense, Minister Pete Hegseth, who arrived at Osan Air Base in the afternoon, visited the JSA with Minister Ahn as his first schedule. The two ministers received a briefing on the operational situation from the Korean and U.S. battalion commanders of the JSA security battalion at the Ouellette post. The Ouellette post, the northernmost outpost in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), was also visited in 2019 by then President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump. They then visited the Panmunjom conference hall. This is Hegseth's first trip to Korea since taking office in Jan.
It has been eight years since the Korean and U.S. defense chiefs visited the JSA together. In Oct. 2017, then Minister of National Defense Song Young-moo and Secretary James Mattis visited the JSA together. A Ministry of National Defense official said the schedule reaffirmed the robust combined defense posture and coordination between Korea and the United States.
After the joint visit to the JSA, Minister Ahn met with reporters and said that Minister Hegseth noted the JSA visit by the two ministers was symbolic of the Korea-U.S. alliance in itself and, with the alliance stronger than ever, he was satisfied with the establishment of the combined defense posture and operations.
He added that the JSA is both the front line of inter-Korean relations and a place for communication and dialogue, saying it is meaningful as the site of the Panmunjom Declaration and the meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong-un, the North Korean State Affairs Commission chairman. He went on to say they discussed the idea that "Korea and the United States should respond well together." There had been expectations that Ministers Ahn and Hegseth would deliver a message to the North, but it was reported there were no remarks about North Korea.
Minister Hegseth will attend the 57th Security Consultative Meeting (SCM), to be held at the Ministry of National Defense headquarters in Yongsan, Seoul, on the 4th, together with Minister Ahn. The SCM is the highest-level annual meeting between Korea and the United States to consult and coordinate major military policies. It is expected to discuss alliance agenda items such as the transfer of wartime operational control, increases in defense spending, and nuclear-powered submarines.