After Pyongyang’s longest missile launch, US strategic bomber takes part in exercises with South Korea and Japan

Image taken from a video published on November 1, 2024 by the South Korean Ministry of Defense, during a joint live fire exercise between South Korea and the United States. AP South Korea, Japan and the United States carried out joint air exercises with an American strategic bomber on Sunday, November 3, the South Korean army announced, after the longest missile launch carried out by Pyongyang . These exercises are being held three days after Pyongyang launched one of its solid-propellant intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), one of the most powerful and advanced in its arsenal, capable, according to experts, of reaching targets in the United States. The American B-1B bomber, South Korean F-15K and KF-16 fighter jets, as well as Japanese F-2 planes were mobilized for the exercises, the military said. “The exercise demonstrates the U.S.-South Korea alliance’s commitment to an integrated extended deterrent in response to North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile threats,” the statement said. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff in a statement. During the maneuvers, South Korean and Japanese aircraft escorted the U.S. strategic bomber to a designated location south of the Korean Peninsula, “demonstrating a strong capability to quickly and accurately strike targets,” the military added. . Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers North Korea raises the nuclear threat as the American presidential election approaches Read later Pyongyang “will never change its course of action” This is the fourth deployment this year of a strategic bomber over the Korean Peninsula, the military said, and the second as part of a trilateral air exercise aimed at countering military threats from Pyongyang. The latest ICBM launched from North Korea reportedly flew higher and further than any previous missiles, according to Pyongyang and the armed forces of Seoul and Tokyo, which tracked it in real time. North Korea’s KCNA news agency called it “the world’s most powerful strategic missile,” and leader Kim Jong-un “expressed great satisfaction” after the launch. North Korea has affirmed that it “will never change its course of strengthening its nuclear forces”, according to the official agency. The shooting comes at a time when the international community is watching Pyongyang’s possible deployment of thousands of troops to Russia to support Moscow’s war efforts in Ukraine, raising fears that North Korean soldiers wearing Russian uniforms could soon be engaged in fights. Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers The presence of North Korean troops alongside Russia illustrates Pyongyang’s new global ambitions Read later Le Monde with AFP Reuse this content



Source link