Seoul said South Korea and the United States flew warplanes, including stealth fighter jets, over waters around the Korean peninsula on Tuesday in a new display of force following recent missile tests by North Korea.
Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said that sixteen South Korean warplanes, including F-35 stealth fighters and four US F-16 jets, formed an attack squadron over the West Sea – also known as the Yellow Sea – “to attack the enemy”. To respond to the threat”. in a statement.
The Allies “demonstrated their strong ability and will to strike quickly and accurately against any provocation by North Korea,” it added.
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The aerial maneuvers, which involved some 20 warplanes, come a day after allies fired eight ballistic missiles into the Sea of ​​Japan in the wake of Pyongyang’s weapons test on Sunday.
On Sunday, North Korea fired eight short-range ballistic missiles from four different locations in the span of 30 minutes – its largest test to date, analysts said.
The nuclear-armed country has this year conducted a blitz of sanctions-wielding weapons tests, which include firing an intercontinental ballistic missile fully for the first time since 2017.
US and South Korean officials have been warning for weeks that Kim Jong Un’s regime is preparing to conduct a fresh nuclear test.
US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman in Seoul on a three-day visit warned that Pyongyang would react “fast and forceful” to proceed with such a seventh test.
“Any nuclear test would be a complete violation of UN Security Council resolutions,” he told reporters after meeting his South Korean counterpart.
The whole world will respond “in a strong and clear way”, she said: “We are ready.”
Sherman said the United States was still ready to engage in talks with the North, adding that Washington “has no hostile intentions towards Pyongyang”.
Tuesday’s aerial maneuver is the third such joint display of force by allies of South Korea’s new President Eun Suk-yol, who has taken a tough stand against Pyongyang.
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