Harris to travel to Korea's demilitarized zone, White House confirms

Vice President Kamala Harris plans to travel to the demilitarized zone between North Korea and South Korea on Thursday, the White House confirmed Monday.

Harris will "tour sites at the DMZ, meet with service members and receive an operational briefing from U.S. commanders," according to a White House statement. The visit aims to reaffirm the United States' alliance with South Korea, the White House said.

"Your visit to the DMZ and Seoul will be very symbolic demonstrations of your strong commitments to the security and peace to Korean Peninsula, and we are working with you and U.S. in dealing with North Korea," South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Monday in a meeting with Harris.

The White House confirmed the planned trip after the prime minister mentioned it in remarks Monday. The DMZ has existed since an armistice halted the Korean War in July 1953; the two Koreas technically remain at war.

Harris met with the prime minister in Japan, where she traveled for Tuesday's funeral of slain Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

North Korea, long antagonistic toward the United States and South Korea, criticized the two countries and Japan this summer, after they held a trilateral meeting about the dictatorship's military provocations.