SEOUL – North Korea issued a threat of retaliation on Thursday following the U.S. deployment of long-range bombers over South Korea as part of joint training exercises with South Korean warplanes. North Korea perceives these exercises as preparations for a potential attack against it.
The U.S. dispatched B-1B bombers on Tuesday to engage in drills alongside U.S. and South Korean fighter jets. South Korea’s Defense Ministry clarified that the purpose of the drill was to demonstrate the collective deterrence capacity of the two nations against North Korea’s expanding nuclear program.
While the U.S. and South Korea regularly conduct joint military maneuvers described as defensive, North Korea perceives them as rehearsals for invasion. The nation is especially sensitive to the U.S. deployment of strategic assets like long-range bombers, aircraft carriers, and nuclear-powered submarines.
“The recent military move of the U.S. and the ROK is an open threat to the security of our state and a grave provocation that raises the military tension in the region to an extreme dangerous level,” an unidentified spokesperson for North Korea’s Defense Ministry said in a statement carried in state media.
ROK stands for the Republic of Korea, South Korea’s formal name.
The statement warned that North Korea “will deter by dint of powerful force the U.S. aggressive attempt to permanently fix the malignant instability element in the security environment of the region.”
North Korea often test-launches missiles in response to the U.S. flyovers of B-1B bombers, which is capable of carrying a huge payload of conventional weapons.
In a development that could further anger North Korea, South Korea’s air force announced later Thursday that it was beginning its large-scale biannual aerial exercise with U.S. forces from Thursday. The air force said the two-week “Freedom Flag” exercise would involve 90 aircraft and other aerial assets from South Korea and the U.S.
Animosities on the Korean Peninsula are running high as North Korea continues weapons tests designed to modernize his nuclear arsenal and supports Russia’s war against Ukraine by supplying weapons and troops.
Since his inauguration, President Donald Trump has repeatedly boasted of his personal ties with Kim and expressed his willingness to reach out to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to revive diplomacy.
On March 31, Trump called Kim “a very smart guy” and North Korea “a big nuclear nation.” Trump said he and Kim “have a great relationship” and that “there is communication,” though there are no known public negotiations and North Korea hasn’t publicly responded to Trump’s outreach.
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