US Pacific Air Forces Commander Reviews Plan for Strategic Bomber Landing in Korea

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The Nikkei newspaper reported on the 29th that the United States is considering a plan to regularly deploy and land strategic bombers in South Korea to strengthen deterrence against North Korea.

According to the media outlet, Kenneth Wilsbach, Commander of the U.S. Pacific Air Forces, said in an interview that "As a countermeasure against North Korea's ballistic missile launches, our (U.S.) bombers will regularly operate in and around the Korean Peninsula and will probably land on the Korean Peninsula."

The U.S. strategic bombers B-52 and B-2 are capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

Commander Wilsbach evaluated North Korea's successive ballistic missile launches by saying, "Compared to five years ago, the number of failures has significantly decreased. Although the launch capability is not yet complete, it has clearly improved."

The Pacific Air Forces Commander commands the operation of U.S. fighter jets and bombers in the Indo-Pacific region and oversees operations. The plan to deploy and land strategic bombers on the Korean Peninsula is interpreted as part of measures to strengthen extended deterrence to protect South Korea from the North Korean nuclear threat, alongside the scheduled port call of strategic nuclear submarines in South Korea.

The "Washington Declaration," announced after the South Korea-U.S. summit between President Yoon Suk-yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden on the 26th (local time), also includes the phrase "the scheduled future port call of U.S. strategic nuclear submarines in South Korea."

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