As the below picture shows US Defense Secretary Mattis decided not to wear his old Marine uniform to the DMZ like he previously indicated he would:
South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo (R) and U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis issue their statements on North Korea at the truce village of Panmunjom inside the Demilitarized Zone on Oct. 27, 2017. (Joint Press Corps-Yonhap)
Mattis arrived in South Korea earlier in the day. Shortly after landing at Camp Bonifas by Black Hawk chopper, he and Song headed to the OP Ouellette, a hilltop border post, and looked around a bunker underneath the facilities only 25 meters away from the North’s territory.
They were briefed on Panmunjom by U.S. Army Col. Steve Lee, secretary of the United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission (UNCMAC). They then toured the UNCMAC’s blue-colored conference building which stands on the Military Demarcation Line.
The North’s guards closely monitored the ministers’ activities, with a group of tourists looking down from the Panmungak building in the North.
In their Clark talks, the South’s minister proposed Mattis, a former Marine Corps general, wear a combat uniform for the DMZ trip to send a highly symbolic message to the North. Mattis responded positively to the offer at that time, according to Song.
But Mattis was dressed in a suit as usual after internal consultations apparently in order to avoid possible controversy over a dress code reflecting the U.S. defense secretary’s public availability.
Asked whether President Donald Trump can travel to the DMZ when he visits South Korea early next month, Mattis was guarded.
Following the DMZ tour, he paid a courtesy call on President Moon Jae-in at Cheong Wa Dae and met with Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha. [Yonhap]
I did two tours (over 5 years total) there between the mid 80s through the early 90s. They paid us to go to the DMZ and they were glad that we went. I went back in 2014 for vacation and they wanted me to pay to go to the DMZ. Yeah, thanks, but no. I hope they didn’t charge General Mattis for his tour?
Rock
7 years ago
No uniform for Mattis. Well if Trump goes to the DMZ, maybe he can wear his old New York Military Academy uniform….
Sgt. Den
7 years ago
I was close to Panmunjom in 1968-69 as a Infantry soldier patrolling the DMZ. They paid us to be there, even gave us a extra $55 a month because of our “exposure” to the North Korean terrorist trying to infiltrate past the American and ROK combat patrols and border fence guards to get into our military compounds to blow us up, and/or mine the roads we travelled daily. They also infiltrated into all of South Korea if we didn’t stop them. Sometimes they would just ambush us in the Zone, and then run back across the border wire so that we could not fire back at them. Sometimes we bushwacked them. The military never acknowledged what we did with the Infantry’s coveted “Combat Infantry Badge” or C. I. B. for our service. Almost 50 years later, I and others are still trying to get ours before we die from the Agent Orange and other dioxins that they sprayed everywhere, even on the dirt roads we had to travel down. My 13 months in country was bitter sweet. I loved it that I could protect the helpless civilians from the North Korean soldiers, but I was disquisted with how the U. S. Army and the U.N. command forces treated us!! I am so grateful to see that South Korea has developed into the country it is now, while North Korea has fallen further and further in it’s dicatorship leaders. Would I visit Panmunjom if I was to travel back to South Korea….hell no….there is nothing there for me. I’d rather visit the Guard Post hilltop positions that are all over the southern half of the DMZ, manned by ROK Army soldiers who proudly serve in at least one the the same posts that I serve on. God Bless the U.S.A. and the Republic of South Korea!!!! We are here to help you if you need us! An old Grunt from the old DMZ Army of the 2nd and 7th Infantry Divisions!!! Sgt. Den
I did two tours (over 5 years total) there between the mid 80s through the early 90s. They paid us to go to the DMZ and they were glad that we went. I went back in 2014 for vacation and they wanted me to pay to go to the DMZ. Yeah, thanks, but no. I hope they didn’t charge General Mattis for his tour?
No uniform for Mattis. Well if Trump goes to the DMZ, maybe he can wear his old New York Military Academy uniform….
I was close to Panmunjom in 1968-69 as a Infantry soldier patrolling the DMZ. They paid us to be there, even gave us a extra $55 a month because of our “exposure” to the North Korean terrorist trying to infiltrate past the American and ROK combat patrols and border fence guards to get into our military compounds to blow us up, and/or mine the roads we travelled daily. They also infiltrated into all of South Korea if we didn’t stop them. Sometimes they would just ambush us in the Zone, and then run back across the border wire so that we could not fire back at them. Sometimes we bushwacked them. The military never acknowledged what we did with the Infantry’s coveted “Combat Infantry Badge” or C. I. B. for our service. Almost 50 years later, I and others are still trying to get ours before we die from the Agent Orange and other dioxins that they sprayed everywhere, even on the dirt roads we had to travel down. My 13 months in country was bitter sweet. I loved it that I could protect the helpless civilians from the North Korean soldiers, but I was disquisted with how the U. S. Army and the U.N. command forces treated us!! I am so grateful to see that South Korea has developed into the country it is now, while North Korea has fallen further and further in it’s dicatorship leaders. Would I visit Panmunjom if I was to travel back to South Korea….hell no….there is nothing there for me. I’d rather visit the Guard Post hilltop positions that are all over the southern half of the DMZ, manned by ROK Army soldiers who proudly serve in at least one the the same posts that I serve on. God Bless the U.S.A. and the Republic of South Korea!!!! We are here to help you if you need us! An old Grunt from the old DMZ Army of the 2nd and 7th Infantry Divisions!!! Sgt. Den