obama visits border amid n korea tensions
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

Obama visits border amid N. Korea tensions

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today Obama visits border amid N. Korea tensions

Barack Obama
Demiliterised Zone, South Korea - Arab Today

 US President Barack Obama visited the tense inter-Korean border Sunday, calling it "freedom`s frontier", as he weighs a response to North Korea`s planned rocket launch.

Obama is visiting South Korea to attend a 53-nation summit starting Monday on combating atomic terrorism. But the nuclear standoff with North Korea and Iran, and the upcoming launch, are set to dominate sideline discussions.

Obama told US troops in a dining hall at Camp Bonifas near the border they are part of a "long line" of soldiers who have enabled South Korea to prosper.

"You guys are at freedom`s frontier," he said. "The contrast between South Korea and North Korea could not be clearer, could not be starker.

"I could not be prouder of what you do."

The US bases 28,500 troops in the South. The White House said the president`s visit to the Demilitarised Zone surrounding the border was to express his appreciation to them and stress commitment to the South`s security.

Obama, standing behind a bulletproof glass screen, peered deep into North Korea through powerful binoculars and chatted to US military officers.

A huge North Korean flag displayed at a village in the North`s section of the DMZ was flying at half-mast to mark the 100th day since the death of longtime leader Kim Jong-Il. The North held a national memorial service Sunday.

Tensions have remained high under Kim`s young son and successor Kim Jong-Un.

A deal with the US announced last month, under which the North would observe a partial nuclear freeze and missile test moratorium in return for food aid, raised cautious hopes of eased tensions.

But less than three weeks later, the North announced it would launch a satellite between April 12 and 16 -- a plan that the US says would breach the February deal as well as UN resolutions.

Pyongyang conducted atomic weapons tests in 2006 and 2009. The US and other nations say its proclaimed satellite launches are really tests of missiles which could deliver a nuclear warhead at some point in the future.

The North says there are dozens of peaceful satellite launches worldwide every year and any attempt to block its own operation would bring unspecified "counter-measures". It insists its plan does not breach the US deal.

Obama, wearing a brown leather jacket and beige slacks, landed by helicopter at Camp Bonifas, named after a US officer axed to death by North Korean troops during a clash inside the DMZ in 1976. 

His motorcade to the observation post followed a road mined on both sides,with rolls of barbed wire and tank traps.

Obama was to meet his close friend President Lee Myung-Bak in Seoul later Sunday for talks followed by a joint press conference.

He will hold talks Monday with China`s President Hu Jintao and outgoing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on the sidelines of the Seoul summit.

China is the North`s key ally. It and Russia -- along with South Korea, Japan and the United States -- are involved in stalled negotiations which began in 2003 on scrapping Pyongyang`s nuclear weapons programme.

The two-day Nuclear Security Summit will focus on minimising the threat of nuclear-armed terrorism and securing or destroying the world`s supplies of plutonium and highly-enriched uranium.

The project is close to the heart of Obama, who chaired the first such summit in Washington in 2010. Experts say significant progress has been made since then, though much more needs to be done.

North Korea has denounced the Seoul summit as a "burlesque" intended to rally world opinion against its nuclear programme.

Source: ANTARA

 

 

arabstoday
arabstoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

obama visits border amid n korea tensions obama visits border amid n korea tensions

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

obama visits border amid n korea tensions obama visits border amid n korea tensions

 



GMT 10:10 2017 Thursday ,09 February

3 Important Elements You Have to Consider

GMT 04:03 2017 Monday ,24 April

Bella Hadid ‘dying’ to visit Palestine

GMT 19:25 2016 Wednesday ,25 May

The Brooklyn Desk by Oeuf NYC

GMT 07:49 2018 Friday ,05 January

2 Russian servicemen killed

GMT 07:58 2018 Monday ,01 January

Italy orders N. Korea's envoy to leave

GMT 08:45 2017 Wednesday ,20 December

US military imagines war without GPS

GMT 17:26 2017 Sunday ,17 December

Putin thanks Trump for help in foiling attack plot

GMT 22:19 2017 Monday ,16 October

Cairo-hosted Fatwa conf. new contribution

GMT 02:27 2016 Friday ,10 June

Video hints Japan abetting illegal ivory trade

GMT 07:04 2017 Wednesday ,19 April

1,883 Bahrainis found jobs in March

GMT 14:24 2016 Tuesday ,22 November

Citi and JPMorgan top list of ‘globally banks’

GMT 21:43 2017 Friday ,01 September

People question Nazaruddin`s repatriation expenses

GMT 09:41 2017 Wednesday ,19 April

OIC concerned over violence in Mali

GMT 01:30 2017 Friday ,27 October

May22/Jun21

GMT 05:38 2016 Friday ,30 December

Dubai Airports divert 13 flights due to heavy fog

GMT 11:38 2017 Saturday ,14 January

Mexico names new ambassador to US

GMT 12:03 2017 Wednesday ,22 March

Kuwait to mark World Water Day

GMT 15:00 2017 Wednesday ,27 September

HM King receives invitation from Egyptian President

GMT 02:45 2017 Tuesday ,05 December

President Bashir arrives in Chad

GMT 02:45 2017 Wednesday ,16 August

Turkmen President Visits Pakistan
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday