Trump scraps surprise visit to demilitarized zone at Korean border because of poor weather

Thomson Reuters

Trump grounded from visiting the observation post in the DMZ truce village of Panmunjom near Seoul, South Korea

US President Donald Trump aborted a surprise visit to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on Wednesday morning.

Trump, who is currently on a 13-day tour of Asia, attempted to depart Seoul in a helicopter at 7:43 a.m., but bad weather and a thick fog forced a return landing in Seoul less than thirty minutes later.

Every US president since Ronald Reagan has visited the DMZ at some point. However, a visit was not officially part of Trump's itinerary after a White House official said, "It's becoming a bit of a cliche, frankly."

However, Trump had hinted a big event would be coming on Wednesday.

At Tuesday's state dinner with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Trump announced cryptically, "We're going to have an exciting day tomorrow, for many reasons that people will find out."

Press traveling with the president were told to wait 10 to 20 minutes for another attempt. But after waiting for nearly an hour the president departed in a motorcade around 9 a.m, according to a White House pool report.

Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders had summoned reporters early on Wednesday morning and announced.

"This is where we're going," Sanders said, holding up a piece of notepaper that had the letters "DMZ" scrawled on it.

She said that was the way she had been instructed to tell the press and that all activity regarding the trip to the Demilitarized Zone were under embargo, and could not be reported on, until Trump landed back in Seoul after the visit.

President Moon was waiting for Trump at the Demilitarized Zone's joint security area, according to an official from South Korea's presidential office cited by Yonhap News. Trump invited Moon on Tuesday to join him at the DMZ, the news agency reported.

The US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis, and Vice President Mike Pence have all visited the DMZ within the last few months.