US Vice President Kamala Harris visits Seoul in the aftermath of the Pyongyang shootings

US Vice President Kamala Harris watches from a military post at the demilitarized zone marking the border between North and South Korea, in Panmunjom, September 29, 2022. © Leah Millis / AP

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2 mins

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris arrived in South Korea for a visit on Thursday (September 29th) after attending the funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

After a meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, she must go to the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas.

The security environment remains tense, with Pyongyang firing two short-range missiles on Wednesday, just hours before Kamala Harris landed.

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With our correspondent in Seoul,

Nicolas Rocca

The alliance with South Korea is "

the keystone of security and prosperity

" on the Korean peninsula.

A statement by the Vice-President of the United States during her meeting with the South Korean Head of State Yoon Suk-yeol sums up well the challenge of her stopover in Seoul.

On the menu of his whirlwind visit, economic issues with in particular South Korea's concern to see its car manufacturers disadvantaged by the American anti-inflation law.

But because of the security context and Kamala Harris's decision to make a detour via the demilitarized zone on the border between the two Koreas, defense issues will dominate the visit.

The objective according to Washington is to reaffirm its will to defend its partners in the region,

a week after the arrival of an American nuclear-powered aircraft carrier

in South Korea, within the framework of the joint military exercises between the two allies and Japan.

These training sessions displease Pyongyang, which has already made its disagreement known by firing several salvoes of missiles this week.

South Korean intelligence services estimated on Thursday that the

regime's much-announced seventh nuclear test

could take place between October 16 and November 7: between the Chinese Communist Party congress and the midterm elections in the United States. United.

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  • South Korea

  • North Korea

  • United States

  • Diplomacy

  • Kamala Harris