The purpose of the visit was "to directly gain insight and understanding of the current situation in the demilitarized zone, taking into account North Korea's involvement in the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine," according to a release from the presidential chancellery.
The Demilitarized Zone is a strip of land 4 kilometers wide and 250 kilometers long that roughly splits the Korean Peninsula in half and is intended as a buffer zone between North and South Korea. It was established in the wake of the Korean War in 1953.
The President's office also noted the fact that four Latvians gave their lives as part of the US Army in the Korean War: Aivars Kārlis Salenieks, Bruno Glazers, Rūdolfs Liepa and Jānis Krūmiņš.
The President visited a museum about the zone where he saw exhibits including the one below.
Apparently to coincide with the visit, the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced November 27 that on November 25, 2024, the Ambassador of Latvia to Sweden, Ilze Rūse, had met the Ambassador of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to Latvia, Ri Won Guk (residing in Sweden).
"At the meeting, the Ambassador of the DPRK was delivered a demarche condemning the increasing military ties between the DPRK and Russia. The Latvian side expressed unequivocal condemnation of the decision to send DPRK troops to support Russia in its illegal war of aggression against Ukraine. It was underlined that deepening of military cooperation and arms transfers between the DPRK and Russia are in a flagrant violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions, namely, resolutions 1718 (2006), 1874 (2009), and 2270 (2016), as well as of the fundamental principles of the UN Charter," said the Ministry's account of the meeting.
