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| US SecDef James Mattis |
SEOUL, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- The first U.S. defense chief under Trump administration visited South Korea on Thursday, picking the Northeast Asian ally as his first overseas tour destination since he took office about two weeks earlier.
James Mattis arrived here at about 12:30 p.m. local time (0330 GMT) before going to the headquarters of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) in central Seoul, where he was briefed by the USFK commander on security situations on the Korean Peninsula.
His travel, which includes a two-day stop in Japan beginning on Friday, followed the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) indication of test-launching a ballistic rocket of intercontinental range.
Top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un said in his New Year's Day address that his country had entered the final stage in preparations to test-fire an intercontinental ballistic rocket, which Seoul sees as an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
The DPRK's fourth and fifth nuclear tests in January and September last year deepened concerns about the country having the capability of miniaturizing a nuclear warhead that can be mounted on a long-range ballistic missile.
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