SEOUL(WNAM Monitoring): A U.S. B-1B bomber took part in a joint aerial exercise that South Korea, the United States and Japan held over waters around the Korean Peninsula on Wednesday in a show of force after North Korea’s launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
The trilateral exercise took place over waters east of the southern resort island of Jeju, where the air defense identification zones of South Korea and Japan overlap, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, amid heightened tensions in the wake of the North’s firing of the Hwasong-18 solid-fuel ICBM on Monday.
South Korean F-15K, U.S. F-16 and Japanese F-2 fighter jets also took part in the exercise, the JCS said, although it did not specify the number of B-1B bombers deployed.
“This exercise was planned … to strengthen the three countries’ capabilities to respond to North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats, including its firing of a solid-fuel ICBM, and to demonstrate the strong resolve for joint response,” the JCS said in a release.
Hours after the ICBM launch, Defense Minister Shin Won-shik said in a media interview that talks were under way for the deployment of U.S. strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula with trilateral drills, involving Japan, being considered in conjunction with the deployment.
It marked the latest trilateral aerial exercise between the three sides since they held their first-ever one in October.
