Doha: US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth visited the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas on Monday, the first visit of its kind for a US Defense Secretary in eight years. South Korea's Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back accompanied his US counterpart on the visit to Observation Post Ouellette: the UN Command's military facility close to the Military Demarcation Line, and the Joint Security Area (JSA) inside the DMZ. According to Qatar News Agency, both sides asserted the United States and South Korea's robust combined defense posture and their close cooperation, according to a statement issued by South Korea's Ministry of Defense. This visit follows US President Donald Trump's repeated initiatives toward North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during Trump's Asian tour last week, with no response from Pyongyang yet.