US deploys B-1B bombers for separate drills with South Korea, Japan

SEOUL, South Korea – The United States separately deployed B-1B bombers for joint drills with South Korea and Japan on Wednesday, August 30, as the three allies have stepped up responses to threats from North Korea.

A US B-1B flew alongside South Korean FA-50 jets and US Air Force F-16 fighters as part of ongoing Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises, South Korea’s defense ministry said. It marked the 10th such flight by an American bomber this year.

North Korea routinely denounces the annual military drills as a rehearsal for war. The allies have stressed that the exercises are defensive.

Separately, two US Air Force B-1Bs joined joint drills with 12 Japanese fighters, including four F-15 jets, according to Japan’s defense ministry.

The US-led bomber drills came days after North Korea attempted a satellite launch that ended in failure.

The US and South Korea began Ulchi Freedom Shield last week – a joint large-scale military exercise designed to enhance their response to Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile threats, with the second part kicking off on Monday.

Wednesday’s exercise was a demonstration of what the allies have called “extended deterrence” in the face of North Korea’s recent space launch vehicle flights and a show of “strong united defense posture,” South Korea’s defense ministry said in a statement.

Tokyo’s defense ministry said the US-Japan joint air drills over the Sea of Japan on Wednesday confirmed the two militaries’ “readiness to respond to any situation” amid North Korea’s ballistic missile launches.

Japan also participated in a trilateral naval missile defense exercise with the US and South Korea on Tuesday.

On Tuesday in a speech marking Navy Day, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un accused the United States and its allies of increasing the risk of nuclear war, referring to an August 18 summit at Camp David between the United States, South Korea and Japan.

“Owing to the reckless confrontational moves of the US and other hostile forces, the waters off the Korean Peninsula have been reduced to the world’s biggest war hardware concentration spot, the most unstable waters with the danger of a nuclear war,” Kim was quoted as saying by state media KCNA. – Rappler.com