Fog derails Trump's surprise trip to inter-Korean border

By Lim Chang-won Posted : November 8, 2017, 10:04 Updated : November 8, 2017, 11:09

[Joint Press Corps]


Heavy fog foiled U.S. President Donald Trump's surprise trip to the heavily armed inter-Korean border together with South Korean President Moon Jae-in amid high tension caused by North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, the presidential office said.

As agreed at their summit on Tuesday, Moon was waiting for Trump at a guard post inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which bisects the Korean peninsula, but Trump's helicopter could not land due to heavy fog, Moon's office said.

Moon had to use a vehicle for his trip to the guard post after his helicopter landed in a front-line military base because of fog, the office said. He left the guard post at 9:03 am (0003 GMT) after Trump's helicopter flew back to a U.S. military base near the center of Seoul.

At that time, visibility was less than one kilometer in northern border areas, according to weathermen.

The unprecedented joint inspection of the world's last Cold War frontier by U.S. and South Korean leaders had been proposed by Moon, his office said. Washington has denied any plans by Trump to visit the inter-Korean border during his two-day state visit to South Korea.

On Wednesday, Trump was to deliver a speech at South Korea's parliament before leaving for China.

On October 27, U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis walked into a joint security area in the truce village of Panmunjom in the middle of the DMZ and issued a message accusing North Korea of jeopardizing regional and global security with a series of provocations.

The secretary also inspected Ouellette, a prominent guard post inside the DMZ. Foreign dignitaries have visited the fortified concrete post to taste a tense mood across the world's last Cold War frontier, and its quest book includes the names of two former U.S. presidents, Bill Clinton in 1993 and Barack Obama in 2012.

 
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