US Army Secretary Visits DMZ, Discusses Security with South Korea
Army Secretary Pete Hegseth met with South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-bak on Monday at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the tense border separating North and South Korea.
Ahn remarked that Hegseth’s visit underscores the “strength of the South Korea-US alliance and joint defense posture,” highlighting its “symbolic and declarative significance.”
As the U.S.’s first Secretary of Defense, Hegseth’s visit marks a notable occasion, especially after eight years. His schedule included meetings with U.S. and South Korean troops stationed along the border.
The DMZ stretches about 150 miles in length and is around 4.5 miles wide; it contains a small neutral zone known as the Joint Security Area (JSA) close to Panmunjom Village. Notably, this is where former President Donald Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June 2019, a moment when Trump crossed into North Korean territory.
While Panmunjom usually attracts tourists, tours have been interrupted recently. Speculations about another meeting between Trump and Kim arose during Trump’s latest visit to South Korea, but it didn’t happen.
The South Korean military primarily guards the DMZ, and a U.S. and United Nations force known as the United Nations Command Security Battalion – Joint Security Area (UNCSB-JSA) ensures security around the JSA.
Hegseth and Ahn are also set to convene for the annual Security Consultative Conference. Topics will likely include joint strategies to counter threats from North Korea, including conventional, nuclear, and cyber challenges.
One significant focus is the Trump administration’s goal of making U.S. Forces in South Korea more “flexible,” which implies that these forces could respond to various threats in Asia, like a potential Chinese move on Taiwan.
The administration encourages South Korea to boost its defense budget and bolster its military, aiming for reduced reliance on U.S. forces. To this end, the upcoming budget plans an 8.2% increase in defense spending, prioritizing drone and cyber capabilities.
According to South Korea’s Yonhap News, Hegseth and Ahn are expected to discuss transitioning wartime operational control from Washington to Seoul. During the Korean War (1950-1953), South Korea handed over wartime control to the U.S., and while peacetime control returned to Seoul in 1994, it has yet to regain wartime control.
President Lee Jae-myung has expressed his intent to finalize the transfer of wartime control by the end of his term in 2030, and enhancing defense spending will likely support this goal.
General Jin Yong-sung, Chairman of the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, met with his American counterpart, Gen. Dan Cain, discussing recent developments, including a joint formation flight of American and South Korean fighter jets over the Pyeongtaek military base.
The two generals shared concerns about the increasingly complex security environment in the Indo-Pacific, primarily due to North Korea’s advancing nuclear and missile threats and escalating arms competition globally, as noted in a joint statement from the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Jin and Cain worry about North Korea’s pursuit of military improvements through its relationship with Russia, but they expressed confidence that cooperation between the U.S. and South Korean forces can effectively counter such threats.
