These exercises involved a strategic bomber and furtive fighter of the American army. North Korea denounces the risk of triggering a “total confrontation”.
mo12345lemonde with AFP
South Korea and the United States continue to raise their tone against North Korea. The two allies organized, on Wednesday, February 1, joint air maneuvers, notably with an American strategic bomber and stealth fighter planes, said South Korean news agency Yonhap.
Thursday.
The planes flew over the yellow sea, located between the Korean peninsula and China, during the first exercises of this kind this year, said the agency, citing the South Korean army.
This demonstration of force comes after the American defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, and his South Korean counterpart announced an increase in these maneuvers and increased cooperation in terms of security.
A spokesperson for the North Korean Foreign Ministry reacted by declaring that the United States “will trigger a total confrontation” with Pyongyang, according to the national press agency KCNA.
Extended, strong and credible deterrence
These maneuvers involved a B-1B strategic bomber, fu-22 and F-35B fighter planes of the US Air Force and F-35A fighter of the South Air Force- Korean, according to the same source.
“These combined air exercises demonstrate the will and the ability of the United States to provide an extensive, strong and credible deterrence against nuclear and ballistic threats from North Korea,” added the South Korean Ministry of Defense Cited by Yonhap. Seoul wants to convince his increasingly worried public opinion of Washington’s engagement by his side, after a year during which North Korea has proclaimed “irreversible” nuclear power and proceeded to a record number missile tests.
m. Austin and the South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-Sup agreed to “extend and strengthen the level and magnitude” of joint military exercises, in light of the “continuous provocations” of Pyongyang, including A recent incursion of drones, they said in a statement.
All the joint military maneuvers between the United States and South Korea exasperated Pyongyang, who considers them as the repetition of a possible invasion and has often responded with threats and exercises on his side.