President Trump was foiled by bad weather in an attempt to fly to the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea.
Reporters traveling with the president said helicopters carrying the president, his aides and the press took off early Wednesday in Seoul, but “had to turn back and return to Seoul,” according to a press pool report.
The trip to the border region was to be kept a secret until Mr. Trump returned to Seoul, which is about a 30-minute helicopter flight from the DMZ.
The pool report said skyscrapers and dense neighborhoods of Seoul “were barely visible through thick fog” as the helicopters lifted off from Yongsan air base.
Most presidents since Ronald Reagan have visited the DMZ, where the U.S. military has an outpost, to view North Korean territory through binoculars across the desolate border region.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said U.S. officials had hoped to make a second attempted flight, but the weather worsened.
She said South Korean President Moon Jae-in was going to join Mr. Trump at the DMZ for a “historic moment,” because it’s believed it would have been the first time that the presidents of the U.S. and South Korea had visited the DMZ together.
“The effort shows the strong and importance of the alliance between the two countries,” Mrs. Sanders said.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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