South Korea was again sidelined during America’s top intelligence official’s Asian tour. This follows a similar snub by the U.S. Defense Secretary.
It has been confirmed that Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), who oversees U.S. intelligence agencies, visited multiple countries, including Japan, but bypassed South Korea.
According to NHK on Monday, Gabbard recently traveled to Hawaii, Japan, Thailand, India, and France. The Japanese broadcaster noted that this marks the first visit by a U.S. cabinet-level official to Japan since the Biden administration took office. During her stay in Japan, Gabbard met with senior intelligence officials and diplomats to strengthen bilateral cooperation.
Following her tour, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will visit Hawaii, the Philippines, and Japan this week. While Hegseth initially considered including South Korea in his itinerary, he reportedly canceled the stop at the last minute.
In Japan, Hegseth is expected to attend a joint U.S.-Japan memorial service with Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani at Iwo Jima, a pivotal World War II battle site. He is also anticipated to hold bilateral defense talks with his Japanese counterpart.
Despite its proximity to other visited nations, South Korea’s absence of high-ranking U.S. officials reflects its current political turmoil following the recent state of emergency and impeachment proceedings.
As a result, South Korea has effectively been excluded from these significant diplomatic engagements.
