U.S. President Barack Obama shakes hands with an officer at the Joint Security Area in the Demilitarized Zone dividing South and North Korea, Sunday. To his left is Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Jung Seung-jo. Obama arrived earlier on a threeday trip to attend the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit. Courtesy of Joint Press Corps

By Kim Young-jin

U.S. President Barack Obama visited the tense Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) straddling the Koreas, Sunday, in what was seen as a strong message toward the North amid a standoff over its nuclear weapons program and a show of solidarity with its ally in the South.

The visit kicked off Obama’s three day trip for the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) to be held today and Tuesday at the Convention and Exhibition (COEX) Center in Southern Seoul.

Wearing a brown leather jacket, Obama peered through a pair of binoculars from Observation Post Ouellette at the North, with which his country has held traditionally icy ties. Tensions have flared again on the back of the Pyongyang’s recently-announced plan to launch a long range rocket next month, a move Washington says breaches U.N. Security Council sanctions.

He greeted both U.S. and South Korean troops stationed there.

“I appreciate the great work you guys are doing here. Thank you,” he told American troops stationed at Camp Bonifas just outside the 4- kilometer-wide DMZ, adding that they were serving on “freedom’s frontier.” Observers said the visit, given its juxtaposition with the Nuclear Security Summit, sent a message about the North’s nuclear program, which Pyongyang seems intent on maintaining as a deterrent after Kim Jong-un was installed as leader following the December death of his father, Kim Jong-il.

The new regime, apparently looking to bolster the power of the twenty-something leader, recently announced it would launch a satellite next month to celebrate the 100th anniversary of its founder’s birth.

Sources on Sunday confirmed reports that the North had brought the main body of a long-range rocket to a launch site in Dongchangri, in the countries northwest in preparation for the launch.

Such a launch would widely be seen as cover for the test of a ballistic missile, which uses the same technology.

Pyongyang warned last week that any statement made against it during the summit would constitute a “declaration of war.” Washington says the launch would breach a February nuclear deal under which Pyongyang said it would place a moratorium on longrange missile tests.

After looking at both sides of the DMZ, Obama said the contrast between the impoverished North and South Korea, with which Washington is enjoying a heyday of relations, “could not be starker.” Meanwhile, the U.S. President, who has frequently praised the education system here is slated to meet with students this morning at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS).

The U.S. President has not been shy about his admiration for Korea’s passion for education, which has coincided with the country’s economic boom in recent decades, noting teachers are known as “nation builders” here.

HUFS was reportedly chosen for its reputation as a leading foreign language school and its emphasis on a global mindset.