Kamala Harris visits DMZ amid tension over North Korean missile launch
< < Go Back
US Vice President Kamala Harris visited the Demilitarized Zone that divides North and South Korea on Thursday, the last stop on her four-day trip to Asia.
Harris condemned North Korea’s Kim Jong Un while standing on the heavily reinforced region, one day after Pyongyang fired two ballistic missiles into the waters off its east coast.
“It is clearly a provocation, and it is meant, we believe, to destabilize the region and we’re taking it seriously, and everyone should,” she said to reporters traveling with her.
Though Harris arrived in Asia this week on a trip crafted to attend the state funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo, she also met with Japanese, South Korean and Australian government leaders amid rising tension from China’s aggression in the South China Sea and North Korea’s ballistic missile program. Harris’ trip was meant in part to reaffirm Asian allies of the US’ intention to follow through on its security commitments in Indo-Pacific region.
Harris on Thursday became the most senior Biden administration official to stand just some feet away from the border to North Korea.
More From CNN:
More From The Washington Post (subscription required):