U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on Aug. 4 visits the Joint Security Area in the United Nations peace village of Panmunjeom. (Speaker Pelosi's Twitter account)

By Kang Gahui

U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on Aug. 4 visited the Joint Security Area (JSA) in the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjeom, a symbol of the division on the Korean Peninsula, and encouraged military personnel there.

This is the first visit to the JSA by a high-ranking American official since U.S. President Joe Biden assumed office in January last year.

Speaker Pelosi talked on the phone with President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is on vacation, before she went to the JSA.

According to Kim Tae-hyo, Principal Deputy National Security Advisor of the National Security Office, the 40-minute call began at 2:30 p.m. President Yoon was quoted as calling Speaker Pelosi's visit a "sign of (South) Korean and U.S. deterrence versus North Korea."

In a briefing that day at the presidential office in Seoul's Yongsan-gu District, the deputy director described what was discussed between President Yoon and Speaker Pelosi.

She said the U.S. is grateful that President Yoon spared time during his first summer vacation as president with his family, adding that while the bilateral alliance is crucial in many aspects, certain things must be respected without fail from a moral perspective.

Mentioning the recent unveiling of the Wall of Remembrance in Washington, she spoke of the duty of keeping without fail the pledge of peace and prosperity made through decades of sacrifice, and urged continued cultivation of a free and open Indo-Pacific order between Korea and the U.S.

President Yoon commented on the May 21 bilateral summit in Seoul, saying, "To develop the global comprehensive strategic alliance, President Joe Biden and I pledged to closely cooperate with the U.S. Congress."

kgh89@korea.kr