The US and South Korea held a joint air exercise Sunday involving US strategic bombers, apparently in response to a North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch a day earlier.
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said the exercise, in which South Korean F-35A, F-15K and U.S. F-16 fighters escorted U.S. B-1B bombers, demonstrated “overwhelming” Allied defensive capabilities and readiness.
“(The exercises) strengthened the capability of joint operations and reaffirmed the unwavering commitment of the United States to the defense of the Korean Peninsula and the implementation of extended deterrence,” the southern military said in a statement.
Japan’s Fuji News Network reported that Japan and the United States are also likely to hold joint aerial exercises as early as Sunday afternoon.
The US-South Korea exercise comes one day after North Korea fired a long-range ballistic missile into the sea off Japan’s west coast after warning of a harsh response to upcoming South Korean-US military exercises.
North Korea’s state media KCNA said the country held “sudden launch exercises” on Saturday as “actual proof” of its efforts to turn “the power of a lethal nuclear counterattack against hostile forces into unstoppable power.”
Leader Kim Jong-un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, issued another warning and was angry at the United States for trying to turn the UN Security Council into what she called “the instrument of her nefarious hostile policy” towards Pyongyang.
“I warn you that we will monitor every move of the enemy and take appropriate and very powerful and overwhelming opposition to every step of his that is hostile to us,” the statement said.
Saturday’s missile launch, the first since January 1, came after Pyongyang on Friday threatened an “unprecedentedly persistent and determined” response as South Korea and the United States prepare for annual military exercises as part of efforts to fend off the North’s growing nuclear weapons. and missile threats.
The North Korean state news agency said the missile flew for 1 hour, 6 minutes, 55 seconds at an altitude of 5,768 kilometers (3,584 miles) before accurately hitting the target area at a distance of 989 kilometers in open waters. Hwasong-15 was first tested in 2017.
On Saturday, the Japanese said the missile fell into the water in their exclusive economic zone.
‘Without warning’
Last year, nuclear-armed North Korea launched an unprecedented number of missiles, including ICBMs capable of hitting anywhere in the United States, and resumed preparations for its first nuclear test since 2017.
South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin said Saturday’s launch “clearly” signals North Korea’s intention to carry out further provocations.
“If North Korea conducts a seventh nuclear test, which could happen at any time, it would be a game changer in the sense that North Korea could develop and deploy tactical nuclear missiles,” Park said at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.
The launch, led by the Main Missile Directorate, was carried out on an “emergency alert order” issued at dawn, followed by a written order from Kim Jong-un at 8 am (11 am GMT Friday), KCNA said. The South Korean military said they discovered the missile at 17:22 (8:22 GMT).
“The important point here is that the exercise was ordered during the day without warning to the crews involved,” said Ankit Panda, a missile expert with Washington’s Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “The time between order and launch is likely to be shortened with additional testing.”
The military unit received “excellent” for the exercises, and the ruling party of the North “highly appreciated the real combat capability of the ICBM units, which are ready for mobile and powerful counterattacks,” according to KsTAK.
Analysts say North Korea is likely to conduct more weapon tests, including possibly a new solid-fuel missile that could help North Korea deploy its missiles more quickly in the event of war.
North Korea’s ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs are banned by UN Security Council resolutions, but Pyongyang says its weapons development is necessary to counter the “hostile policies” of Washington and its allies.
