SEOUL.– Bombers USA long-range aircraft made a flight on Wednesday in joint maneuvers with CSouth Korea and Japan, a show of force against North Korea days after Pyongyang conducted its first test of an intercontinental ballistic missile in five months.
The trilateral exercise near the South Korean island of Jeju was intended to reinforce the countries’ joint response to North Korean nuclear threats, the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. South Korea.
B-1B bombers and South Korean and Japanese fighters participated in the exercise, according to the statement. It was the 13th time US bombers were temporarily deployed near and over the Korean Peninsula this year, the statement added.
The B-1B model can carry a large number of conventional weapons. On other occasions, North Korea has described the bomber deployment as evidence of American hostility, and has reacted with missile tests.
North Korea launched a Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile on Monday, an exercise it said was intended as a warning against confrontational moves by Washington and Seoul. Pyongyang mentioned a recent meeting between the two countries to discuss their nuclear deterrence plans.
For their part, the United States, South Korea and Japan described the launch as a provocation and noted that it violated several United Nations Security Council resolutions that veto the North’s ballistic activities.
Source: With information from AP
