Pete Hegseth visits DMZ ahead of talks on U.S. troops in South Korea

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited the Demilitarized Zone along the border with North Korea as part of a trip to South Korea on Monday, South Korea’s defense ministry said.

SEOUL, South Korea — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited the Demilitarized Zone along the border with North Korea as part of a trip to South Korea on Monday, South Korea’s defense ministry said.

His visit to the heavily fortified DMZ came ahead of talks expected to involve Washington’s goal of reshaping the role of U.S. troops in Korea.

Hegseth landed in the border area in a U.S. army helicopter and met South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back, according to video footage released by the South Korean defense ministry.

This handout photo taken on November 3, 2025 and provided by the South Korean Defence Ministry shows US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (R) shaking hands with South Korean Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back (L) as they visit the truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas.AFP via Getty Images“I believe it has symbolic and declarative significance itself, demonstrating the strength of the South Korea-U.S. alliance and the combined defense posture,” Ahn said of Hegseth’s visit to the DMZ.

The defense chiefs are scheduled to hold the annual Security Consultative Meeting on Tuesday, the highest-level forum at which the two countries chart the course of their military alliance and South Korea’s defense against nuclear-armed North Korea.