Trumpâs attempt at surprise visit to Korean demilitarized zone is foiled by weather
Trump Trump
Trump 's attempt to make a surprise visit to the Korean demilitarized zone ahead of a speech to the South Korean National Assembly was foiled by bad weather â apparently the moderately thick haze that has covered the sky here this week. Secret Service agents made the call minutes after Marine One had taken off  forcing  Trump  to return to Seoul and abort the 30-mile flight north. After waiting another hour for the skies to clear  the White House canceled the visit to the heavily watched border region that has divided North and South since the halt of the Korean War in 1954.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters that  Trump  was scheduled to tour the DMZ with South Korean President Moon Jae-in  which would have marked the first-ever joint visit.
"He's actually pretty frustrated " she said of  Trump . Asked how long the trip had been in the works  she said it had been planned "for a little while " since before  Trump  left on  his  Asia trip last Friday. It was "something the president wanted to do " she said.
Last week  White House officials had ruled out a DMZ visit  saying it was becoming âa clicheâ and noting that Vice President Pence  Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis had each visited this year. After arriving in South Korea on Tuesday   Trump  toured Camp Humphreys  a joint U.S.-South Korean military base about 40 miles south of Seoul  where he ate lunch with troops and was briefed by commanders.
Aides said  Trump   in  his  speech to the Korean parliament  will lay out a broad strategy to increase international pressure on Pyongyang over its nuclear weapons and ballistic-missile programs.  Trump  asserted Tuesday that  his  administration is making âa lot of progressâ on North Korea  and  he  urged Kim to âmake a dealâ at the negotiating table.
âI believe it makes sense for North Korea to do the right thing  not only for North Korea but for humanity all over the world â  Trump  said during a news conference with Moon after a meeting at the Blue House.
âI do see certain movement  yes  but weâll see what happens â  he  added  without offering any details.
The DMZ visit was not announced publicly. The traveling press pool that accompanies  Trump  was summoned earlier than expected. Sanders met the group with a sign on which the letters âDMZâ were written and told them that is how she was instructed to inform them of the trip. She explained that the reporters were not permitted to make details public until after the president had visited the DMZ and returned to Seoul  presumably out of security concerns.
According to a pool reporter  the group boarded Chinook helicopters along with a half-dozen men in camouflage-patterned tactical gear. The helicopters traveled about 18 minutes before turning around.  Trump  does have a motorcade available in Seoul but taking the trip by ground would have taken longer and foiled the element of surprise; it also would have been difficult to shut down and secure crowded Seoul streets at a moment's notice.
South Koreaâs government had been opposed to Trumpâs plan to visit the DMZ  viewing it as unnecessarily confrontational at a time of heightened rhetoric between  Trump  and Kim  according to numerous reports ahead of the U.S. presidentâs visit to Seoul.
But  Trump  reportedly informed Moon during their summit talks Tuesday that  he  planned to go ahead with the visit  leaving the South Korean president with little choice but to agree. Moon was waiting for  Trump  at a guard post inside the DMZ  having arrived there earlier in the morning.
Kim Sung-han  a former vice foreign minister  said the fact that  Trump  didn't make it to the DMZ avoided unnecessarily raising tension.
"One of South Korea's goals of this summit was to lower the tensions caused by the war of harsh words between the U.S. and North Korea " Kim said. "Had  President Trump  made provocative remarks at the DMZ  it could have created a very serious situation."
For that reason -- and contrary to the Blue House's official insistence otherwise -- the Moon government had been trying to steer  Trump  away from the DMZ  Kim said.
But Robert Kelly  a professor of international relations at Pusan National University in South Korea  said that the fears of escalation at the DMZ were overblown  suggesting the trip was all about imagery for  Trump .
â The president  is a show man   he âs a reality TV star â Kelly said. âI think the idea of standing in the DMZ and making pronouncements about being strong against North Korea appeals to  his  sense of theatricality."
[TGT]  's attempt to make a surprise visit to the Korean demilitarized zone ahead of a speech to the South Korean National Assembly was foiled by bad weather â apparently the moderately thick haze that has covered the sky here this week. Secret Service agents made the call minutes after Marine One had taken off  forcing   [TGT] to return to Seoul and abort the 30-mile flight north. After waiting another hour for the skies to clear  the White House canceled the visit to the heavily watched border region that has divided North and South since the halt of the Korean War in 1954.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters that   [TGT] was scheduled to tour the DMZ with South Korean President Moon Jae-in  which would have marked the first-ever joint visit.
"He's actually pretty frustrated " she said of  [TGT]  . Asked how long the trip had been in the works  she said it had been planned "for a little while " since before   [TGT] left on   [TGT]   Asia trip last Friday. It was "something the president wanted to do " she said.
Last week  White House officials had ruled out a DMZ visit  saying it was becoming âa clicheâ and noting that Vice President Pence  Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis had each visited this year. After arriving in South Korea on Tuesday    [TGT] toured Camp Humphreys  a joint U.S.-South Korean military base about 40 miles south of Seoul  where he ate lunch with troops and was briefed by commanders.
Aides said   [TGT] in  his  speech to the Korean parliament  will lay out a broad strategy to increase international pressure on Pyongyang over its nuclear weapons and ballistic-missile programs.   [TGT] asserted Tuesday that   [TGT]   administration is making âa lot of progressâ on North Korea  and   [TGT]   urged Kim to âmake a dealâ at the negotiating table.
âI believe it makes sense for North Korea to do the right thing  not only for North Korea but for humanity all over the world â   [TGT] said during a news conference with Moon after a meeting at the Blue House.
âI do see certain movement  yes  but weâll see what happens â   [TGT]   added  without offering any details.
The DMZ visit was not announced publicly. The traveling press pool that accompanies   [TGT] was summoned earlier than expected. Sanders met the group with a sign on which the letters âDMZâ were written and told them that is how she was instructed to inform them of the trip. She explained that the reporters were not permitted to make details public until after the president had visited the DMZ and returned to Seoul  presumably out of security concerns.
According to a pool reporter  the group boarded Chinook helicopters along with a half-dozen men in camouflage-patterned tactical gear. The helicopters traveled about 18 minutes before turning around.   [TGT]   does have a motorcade available in Seoul but taking the trip by ground would have taken longer and foiled the element of surprise;  [TGT]  also would have been difficult to shut down and secure crowded Seoul streets at a moment's notice.
South Koreaâs government had been opposed to Trumpâs plan to visit the DMZ  viewing it as unnecessarily confrontational at a time of heightened rhetoric between   [TGT] and Kim  according to numerous reports ahead of the U.S. presidentâs visit to Seoul.
But   [TGT] reportedly informed Moon during their summit talks Tuesday that   [TGT]   planned to go ahead with the visit  leaving the South Korean president with little choice but to agree. Moon was waiting for  [TGT] at a guard post inside the DMZ  having arrived there earlier in the morning.
Kim Sung-han  a former vice foreign minister  said the fact that   [TGT] didn't make it to the DMZ avoided unnecessarily raising tension.
"One of South Korea's goals of this summit was to lower the tensions caused by the war of harsh words between the U.S. and North Korea " Kim said. "Had   [TGT] made provocative remarks at the DMZ  it could have created a very serious situation."
For that reason -- and contrary to the Blue House's official insistence otherwise -- the Moon government had been trying to steer   [TGT] away from the DMZ  Kim said.
But Robert Kelly  a professor of international relations at Pusan National University in South Korea  said that the fears of escalation at the DMZ were overblown  suggesting the trip was all about imagery for   [TGT] 
â  [TGT] is a show man    [TGT]  âs a reality TV star â Kelly said. âI think the idea of standing in the DMZ and making pronouncements about being strong against North Korea appeals to  his  sense of theatricality."