Vice President Mike Pence made an unannounced visit to the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on the Korean border Monday amid heightened tensions in the region.
The vice president’s visit to the region during his trip in Asia comes after a failed missile test by North Korea.
“This morning’s provocation from the North is just the latest reminder of the risks each one of you face each and every day in the defense of the freedom of the people of South Korea and the defense of America in this part of the world,” Pence said at an Easter dinner with soldiers Sunday night.
.@VP making an unannounced visit to the DMZ in South Korea. pic.twitter.com/ao5EZcd9Xm
— Alex Mallin (@alex_mallin) April 17, 2017
The DMZ runs for 160 miles along the Korean peninsula splitting up North Korea and South Korea, two nations still technically at war. In the past weeks the Trump administration has been talking with increasingly tough rhetoric about North Korea, which continues to pursue nuclear weapons. Pence told reporters, “all options are on the table as we continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of South Korea for denuclearization of this peninsula and for the long term prosperity and freedom of the people of South Korea.”
A bruise is seen on the right hand of a North Korean soldier observing activities in the south of the truce village of Panmunjom in the demilitarised zone (DMZ) separating North Korea from South Korea, about 55 km (34 miles) north of Seoul, September 25, 2013. REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won