Pyongyang Condemns US Strategic Bomber Flights Near Korean Peninsula
Image Courtesy: Northeast Today
The United States sent two B-1B strategic bombers flying over the Korean peninsula, shortly before President Donald Trump's Asia tour. North Korea on Friday condemned this act, stating that the exercise was to stage a surprise nuclear strike drill targeting North Korea.
According to Efe News, the two strategic bombers conducted sequenced joint exercises with Japanese and South Korean fighters on Thursday. The US Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) said in a statement:
The two B-1B Lancers took off from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, and transited south of Korea and west of Japan to integrate with Koku Jieitai (Japan Air Self-Defense Force) fighters..
The Lancers then transited overland to Korea to integrate with Republic of Korea fighters in the Yellow Sea. Upon completion of bilateral integration, the aircraft returned to their respective home stations.
In recent weeks, the US has repeatedly deployed the B-1Bs with the apparent aim of deterring Kim Jong-un's regime from continuing its weapons tests.
In response to the above strategic bomber drill, Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, “The reality clearly shows that the United States is the very one who is aggravating the situation of the Korean Peninsula and seeking to ignite a nuclear war”.
The flyover comes after two more US aircraft carriers joined the Japan-based USS Ronald Reagan in the Asia-Pacific region last week, CNN reported. The Pentagon said the movement of the carriers and their accompanying strike groups was long planned, as the USS Nimitz heads back to the US West Coast after a deployment in the Middle East and the USS Theodore Roosevelt heads to that area to replace it.
Washington and Seoul agreed last week at their annual security meetings to "enhance rotational deployments of US strategic assets in and around the peninsula," including bomber jets, submarines and nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.
Meanwhile, the Pyongyang regime's continued testing of weapons, including a nuclear test on September 3, and the belligerent rhetoric of Trump, and repeated strike deals involving strategic bombers – capable of carrying out nuclear strikes -- have raised the tension to unprecedented levels since the end of the Korean War.
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