Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates will today visit the armed border dividing North and South Korea, in a show of U.S. unity with its ally after the sinking of one of the South's warships.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (right) is escorted by Han Duk-Soo, the South Korean ambassador to Washington, after arriving at the Seoul Airport in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. (Yonhap)

The tour of the so-called Demilitarized Zone is part of commemorations of the 60th anniversary of the Korean War. The visit coincides with the arrival of the 97,000-ton aircraft carrier USS George Washington at the southeastern port of Busan before U.S.-South Korea military exercises that have raised tensions with China.

The exercises are intended as "a strong sign of deterrence" to North Korea, Gates told American troops at Camp Casey in South Korea today. The trip to the Demilitarized Zone will highlight how important operations are there to the security of the Peninsula as well as the region, he said.

Clinton and Gates will conduct talks with their South Korean counterparts in a demonstration of unity after the March sinking of the Cheonan, which both countries have blamed on a North Korean torpedo. The meeting will cover the planned military exercises as well as diplomatic, political and trade issues. Clinton also will dine with South Korean President Lee Myung Bak.

Clinton said the trip was planned long ago to mark the Korean War, in which more than 55,000 Americans died.

Showing support

"Because of the Cheonan, I think it's particularly timely to show support," she told reporters traveling with her in the Afghan capital Kabul Wednesday.

Clinton compared the U.S. commitment to South Korea through its years of economic struggle and instability to the Obama administration's pledge to stick with Afghanistan after it emerges from the war that has raged since 2001. South Korea now ranks as one of the Group of 20 economic powers and a leader in Asia, she said.

 "The U.S. has stayed with countries a lot longer than eight years," Clinton said.

In East Asia, the aircraft carrier arrives tomorrow on its first visit to South Korea since October 2008, the Department of Defense reported on its website. Three destroyers will accompany the carrier.

While the series of exercises isn't the largest the two nations have conducted, it is unusual in its timing, said Admiral Robert Willard, commander of the U.S. military's Pacific region.

(Bloomberg)