Kamala Harris visits South Korea a day after North Korea fires missiles
US Vice President Kamala Harris today visited South Korea at a somewhat tense time. Just yesterday, North Korea launched two ballistic missiles from its capital of Pyongyang into the East Sea. This was North Korea’s second ballistic missile launch in a week.
Harris today met with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to chat about the threat that North Korea poses. They also discussed issues such as economic and technology cooperation, and the “importance of peace” in the Taiwan Straight.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the country’s military has stepped up its surveillance while closely cooperating with the US.
Harris planned to visit the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) between North Korea and South Korea later today. There, she planned to meet service members, and receive a briefing from US commanders.
North Korea has so far launched missiles 20 times this year. Harris called the most recent launch part of North Korea’s “illicit weapons programme,” which she said threatens regional stability and violates UN security resolutions.
North Korea has a reputation for its hatred of the outside world. In April this year, leader Kim Jong-un warned the world that North Korea is ready to use nuclear weapons against foreign powers at “any time” if provoked.
Earlier this month, North Korea called a United Nations special rapporteur on North Korean Human Rights a “puppet of the US.”
Just last week, North Korea released a statement denying that it had ever sold weapons to Russia. It said that the United States and other “hostile forces” were spreading rumours to “pursue its base political and military aims.”
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