Kamala Harris made a diplomatic blunder as she mistakenly praised the US alliance “with the Republic of North Korea” during her trip to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).
The vice president made the gaffe as she took a high-profile trip to the heavily-fortified area that separates the Korean Peninsula.
“The United States shares a very important relationship, which is an alliance with the Republic of North Korea,” Ms Harris said, mixing up South Korea’s name, the Republic of Korea.
She then reiterated American support for the defence of South Korea against its hostile neighbor to the north.
“I cannot state enough that the commitment of the United States to the defense of the Republic of Korea is iron-clad and that we will do everything in our power to ensure that it has meaning in every way that the words suggest,” she added.
The vice president’s trip to the DMZ, saw her meet with American troops at the Camp Bonifas Dining Facility.
She was pictured using binoculars to look at the DMZ, which is 160 miles long and 2.5 miles wide.
Ms Harris then gave her speech about the Biden administration’s commitment to South Korean security at the Observation Post Oullette.
She is the highest-ranking US official to visit the DMZ since Donald Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in 2019.
Following the vice presidents’ departure from South Korea, North Korea defiantly fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea. It was the third round of missile launches by North Korea in the last week.
