President reviews military amid tension

Commander in Chief lands in South Korea

CAMP HUMPHREYS, Korea, Republic Of — Reviewing American military forces along the Korean peninsula, President Donald Trump dined with U.S. and South Korean soldiers on Tuesday at the start of a two-day visit centred on pressuring the north to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

Trump has repeatedly struck a hard line against Pyongyang and South Korea was warily watching Trump as he was poised to deliver bellicose warnings in the shadow of the North Korea. The president refused to rule out eventual military action against the north and exhorted dictator Kim Jong Un to stop weapons testing, calling the recent launches of missiles over American allies like Japan “a threat to the civilized world and international peace and stability.”

“We will not stand for that,” Trump said Monday. “Some people say my rhetoric is very strong but look what has happened with very weak rhetoric in the last 25 years.”

Shortly after arriving in South Korea, Trump travelled by helicopter to Camp Humphreys, a military base about 40 miles south of Seoul, and sat with troops for lunch in a large mess hall. South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in was also seated at the table. “Good food,” Trump told reporters as he chatted with U.S. and Korean service members.

U.S. and South Korean officials have said the base visit was meant to underscore the countries’ ties and South Korea’s commitment to contributing to its own defence.

But he was skipping the customary trip to the demilitarized zone separating north and south — a pilgrimage made by every U.S. president except one since Ronald Reagan as a demonstration of solidarity with the South. A senior administration recently dubbed the border trip as “a bit of a cliche.”