[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] Why Doesn't President Biden Visit the DMZ?

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] President Joe Biden has decided not to visit the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) during the South Korea-US summit. While a visit to the DMZ by a US president symbolizes the South Korea-US alliance and deterrence against North Korea, this decision is interpreted as a measure considering the spread of COVID-19 in North Korea. In particular, since President Biden has already visited the DMZ, it is analyzed that the message delivery effect to North Korea would be limited.

Kim Tae-hyo, First Deputy Director of the National Security Office, said on the 18th, "President Biden visited the DMZ during his vice presidency," adding, "We are preparing a security event at a different location and with a different concept."

The Outpost Guard Post (GP) is located about 25 meters from the Military Demarcation Line and is the frontline observation post within the DMZ. Therefore, it is a frequent visit site for major US officials.

President Ronald Reagan was the first to visit the DMZ in 1983, followed by President Bill Clinton in 1993, President George W. Bush in 2002, and President Barack Obama in 2012. Former President Donald Trump was unable to visit due to heavy fog during his 2017 visit to South Korea, but he held a surprise meeting with North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un at Panmunjom within the DMZ in late June 2019. At that time, instead of visiting the DMZ, former President Trump visited the Pyeongtaek base to reaffirm the South Korea-US alliance.

President Biden visited the DMZ as Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee (August 2001) and as Vice President (December 2013). During his vice presidency, he attracted attention by visiting a general outpost (GP) near Panmunjom with his granddaughter.

In 2020, just before the presidential election, President Biden wrote in an op-ed sent to South Korea, "I will never forget standing at the DMZ, less than 100 feet (30 meters) from North Korea, with my granddaughter Finnegan by my side," recalling, "I felt the pain of the division of the Korean Peninsula and separated families since the Korean War."

However, during his visit to South Korea, President Biden is not expected to visit the DMZ but is likely to make a security-related visit to Camp Humphreys, the US Forces Korea base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.

Camp Humphreys holds significance beyond simply relocating the US Forces Korea headquarters from Yongsan Garrison in Seoul, where it had been for 64 years, to Pyeongtaek in Gyeonggi Province. The Pyeongtaek base is an integrated land, sea, and air base, a strategic point capable of rapid response in emergencies on the Korean Peninsula, and symbolizes the opening of a new era in the South Korea-US alliance.

The Pyeongtaek base is equipped with Apache Longbow (AH64D) attack helicopters, Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (M270), Paladin self-propelled howitzers (M109A6), short-range air defense systems Avenger (ANTWQ1), Abrams (M1A2 SEP) tanks, and Bradley Fighting Vehicles (M2A3).