U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is in South Korea today, the 60th anniversary of the signing of the mutual defense treaty between the U.S. and South Korea.

Defense Sec Hagel, at the DMZ, eyes two North Korean soldiers eyeing him through the window pic.twitter.com/ar0c5AbIYj

— cbsMcCormick (@cbsMcCormick) September 30, 2013

The AP reports:

Standing just steps from the heavily armed border with North Korea, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Pyongyang is closely watching the international response to Syria's use of chemical weapons against its own people.

With North Korean soldiers watching his every move, Hagel told reporters traveling with him that the U.S. has no plans to reduce its military presence in South Korea, despite the ongoing budget crisis.