Trump opts to buck trend

GIVE IT A MISS: DEMILITARISED ZONE NOT ON AGENDA, UNLIKE MOST PREVIOUS US PRESIDENTS Area separating the two Koreas is one of world’s most heavily militarised frontiers.

Donald Trump may not visit the demilitarised zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea, breaking with what has become a rite of passage for US presidents seeking to demonstrate America’s resolve to face down Pyongyang.

Most previous US presidents have visited the eerie sliver of land that separates US and South Korean troops from their North Korean adversaries.

“There are certain elements of the schedule that are still being worked out,” said a senior administration official.

Trump has instead been invited by the government in Seoul to visit Camp Humphreys, south of the South Korean capital and away from the DMZ.

“Security is not a concern. The president is most likely going to be visiting Camp Humphreys, it’s going to be very difficult for him to have time to visit both,” the official said.

All recent presidents, except one-term commander-in-chief George HW Bush, have visited the DMZ.

But it would not be unheard of for the mercurial Trump to change plans at the last moment.

The frontier, which is 4km wide, spreads from sea to sea and is just a short distance from Seoul.

For the most part, it is a chilling mix of near-empty farmland, forest, wire fencing, watchtowers and turrets, all set against a soundtrack of propaganda blasted from both sides.

The area has been guarded by both North Korea and the US-led United Nations Command since the Korean War ended with an armistice in 1953.

Despite its name, the DMZ separating the two Koreas is one of the world’s most heavily-militarised frontiers, bristling with watchtowers and land mines.

In April, vice-president Mike Pence visited, declaring that standing with US forces in Korea, along with “courageous soldiers from the Republic of Korea is a message of resolve”.

Trump will be in South Korea early next month as part of a five-nation Asia visit that is set to be dominated by concerns about North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. –