Then-U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and his granddaughter, Finnegan Biden, visit the DMZ in this Dec. 7, 2013 photo. Yonhap

US president considers visiting heavily armed border amid continued North Korean provocations

By Kang Seung-woo

U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to issue a message of Washington's commitment to defending South Korea from escalating North Korean nuclear and missile threats during a possible trip to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), according to diplomatic observers, Tuesday.

Biden is scheduled to arrive in South Korea, Friday, for a three-day visit that will include a summit with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol as well as a meeting with Yoon's predecessor, Moon Jae-in.

The allies are coordinating the American leader's third trip to the DMZ, according to government sources. Biden already traveled twice to the most heavily armed border in the world, which separates the two Koreas, in 2001 as the chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and again in 2013 when he was the vice president.

Last week, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki also proposed Biden's DMZ visit, adding that the details of its schedule were being finalized.

His envisaged tour comes as North Korea is highly anticipated to carry out a seventh nuclear test as early as this month, after having conducted a flurry of missile launches so far this year (16 times).

"The DMZ has served as a venue by U.S. presidents to show off the allies' solid defense posture against North Korea's provocations, so this time Biden is expected to follow in the footsteps of his predecessors amid repeated North Korean aggressions when he visits there," said Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification.

On the occasion of Biden's trip to Asia, which also includes a visit to Japan, it is being speculated that the Kim Jong-un regime could stage another provocative action so as to heighten tensions on the Korean Peninsula in a way to draw the U.S.' attention.

Many believe that under the Biden administration, the North Korea nuclear issue has taken a back seat to other more urgent diplomatic matters, such as its strategic competition with China and Russia's war in Ukraine.

Cheong Seong-chang, the director of the Center for North Korean Studies at the Sejong Institute, also said that the U.S. could send a tough message should Pyongyang launch a missile.

"If that happens, Biden's message may focus on its commitment to deterring North Korea's threats for South Korea," Cheong said.

In the event that North Korea fires a missile, Biden is highly likely to travel to the DMZ, according to the two experts.

"If the U.S. has internally decided on the DMZ trip, it will be made even if North Korea test-fires another missile. A possible cancellation due to a launch may be seen as a step back from the U.S. security commitment," Hong said.

Cheong also said Biden will make a trip to the DMZ regardless of a missile launch, saying that North Korea would fire a missile toward the East Sea, not toward the south.

However, there is also room for Biden to persuade North Korea to return to dialogue, stressing that the U.S. is prepared to hold constructive discussions with the North, Cheong added.

While in South Korea, Biden could also visit Camp Humphreys, a U.S. military base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, to meet American service members and encourage them.