Secretary Clinton and Gates to Visit DMZ

Reuters reports that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates will visit the DMZ tomorrow morning. This comes on the heels of Tuesday's announcement that joint-military exercises will begin on July 25th. Clinton told reporters that "it's particularly timely to show our strong support for South Korea, a stalwart ally, and to send a very clear message to North Korea." Secretary Gates also speaks to the fact that North and South Korea are merely at a cease-fire and that a formal peace treaty has yet to be signed. As a result, relations between the two countries, and between North Korea and the international community, have tended to vacillate between minimally productive and outright hostility.