South Korea and US Conduct Joint Exercises with B-1B Strategic Bombers... Direct Response to North Korea's ICBM

Korean F-35A·F-15K and US F-16 Escort B-1B Formation Flight Entering KADIZ
Day After Hwasong-15 Launch... "Timely and Immediate Deployment of US Extended Deterrence Forces"

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] South Korea and the United States conducted a joint air exercise deploying U.S. strategic assets in response to North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) provocations.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that South Korea and the U.S. held a joint exercise over the Korean Peninsula airspace on the 19th.

The exercise was conducted by having South Korean Air Force F-35A and F-15K fighters and U.S. Air Force F-16s escort a U.S. B-1B strategic bomber entering the Korea Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ) while performing joint formation flying.

The Joint Chiefs stated, "This exercise demonstrated the combined defense capabilities and posture of the ROK-U.S. alliance through the timely and immediate deployment of U.S. extended deterrence forces to the Korean Peninsula, showcasing overwhelming allied power."

They added, "It enhanced joint operational capabilities and confirmed the U.S.'s ironclad commitment to the defense of the Korean Peninsula and the implementation of extended deterrence."

The US strategic bomber B-1B Lancer flying over the international airspace of the East Sea near North Korea.
[Photo by Asia Economy DB]

The joint exercise on this day is interpreted as a response to North Korea's launch of the Hwasong-15 ICBM the previous day.

The long-range ballistic missile launched by North Korea at approximately 5:22 p.m. the day before flew about 900 km over the East Sea at a high angle and reached a maximum altitude of about 5,700 km, according to analyses by Japan and others.

North Korea claimed in a public report on the same day that the missile reached a maximum apogee of 5,768.5 km and flew a distance of 989 km.

Kim Yo-jong, deputy director of the Workers' Party and younger sister of Kim Jong-un, warned in a statement that "we will closely monitor every hostile act of the enemy and respond correspondingly and with overwhelming force to any hostility against us," raising the possibility of additional provocations under the pretext of this joint air exercise.

South Korea and the U.S. have declared their intention to increase the frequency and intensity of U.S. strategic asset deployments to enhance the U.S.'s extended deterrence execution capability.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said after the ROK-U.S. defense ministerial meeting held in Seoul on the 31st of last month, "We have already deployed fifth-generation fighters, namely F-22s and F-35s, as well as the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group," and added, "We will deploy more of these in the future."

On the 1st, South Korea and the U.S. conducted the first joint air exercise of the year involving B-1B bombers and ROK-U.S. F-35s, and two days later on the 3rd, they held a second exercise involving F-35s from both countries and U.S. F-22s.

The Ministry of National Defense specified that both exercises took place over the West Sea, but this time only "Korean Peninsula" and "KADIZ" were mentioned.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.