The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has headed to the demilitarized zone dividing the two Koreas, ramping up pressure on North Korea after sanctions enforcement was dealt a heavy blow by a recent Russian veto.
Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield went to the buffer zone border Tuesday in the highest-profile visit by a Biden administration official since Vice President Kamala Harris went there in 2022.
The 4-kilometer wide buffer zone between the two Koreas, where hundreds of thousands of troops are stationed on opposing sides of razor-wire fencing, is dubbed the Cold War’s last frontier, and a symbol of simmering tensions that have lasted since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. Thomas-Greenfield is the first U.S. ambassador to the United Nations to visit South Korea since 2016.