Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Cancels US Visit... Considering Recent Security Situation

High-Level Meeting Replaced by Video Conference

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Kim Myung-soo canceled his planned visit to the United States due to the severe security situation, including North Korea's demolition of the inter-Korean connecting roads on the Gyeongui and Donghae lines.

Kim Myung-soo, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is taking the witness oath at the National Assembly audit held at the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Yongsan, Seoul, on the 10th. Photo by National Assembly Press Corps

On the 16th, a military official stated, “Chairman Kim was scheduled to depart the previous day to hold a high-level meeting with the U.S. side, but he decided to cancel the visit and replace it with a video conference.” A source explained, "Considering North Korea’s escalation of threats against the South, such as blowing up the inter-Korean connecting roads on the Gyeongui and Donghae lines, the face-to-face meeting was replaced with a video conference to maintain a state of readiness."

North Korea blew up sections just north of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) on the Gyeongui and Donghae inter-Korean connecting roads the day before. This came six days after they declared they would completely sever the inter-Korean roads and railways and carry out fortification work to fully block and seal off the southern border.

In response to North Korea’s demolition work within the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which violates the armistice agreement, our military conducted retaliatory fire toward the southern side of the MDL.

As North Korea raised the threat level against the South by claiming that a South Korean drone intruded into Pyongyang airspace and proceeded to blow up the inter-Korean connecting roads, military tensions around the MDL escalated, leading Chairman Kim to cancel his visit to the United States.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff reported the situation regarding North Korea’s demolition of the Gyeongui and Donghae inter-Korean connecting roads to the National Assembly’s Defense Committee in a closed session the previous evening. During the Defense Acquisition Program Administration’s audit held by the National Assembly Defense Committee on the same day, concerns were raised that Chairman Kim should not visit the United States given the current security situation.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.