North Korea crisis: US to fly strategic bombers over Korean peninsula in major air force drill
American bombers will fly over the Korean Peninsula on Wednesday, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, a move likely to antagonise North Korea.
Pyongyang has regularly denounced joint military drills between the United States and South Korea as acts of aggression, characterising them as preludes to an invasion.
North Korea warned that a mass air force drill this week would push the world to “the brink of nuclear war”.
Just as this is not the first time North Korea has threatened retaliation for military exercises, it's not unique for America to deploy sophisticated aircraft amid North Korean belligerence.
Earlier this summer, with Pyongyang vowing to destroy the US territory of Guam after Donald Trump threatened North Korea with “fire and fury”, B1-Bs conducted joint drills with Japan in airspace near the Korean peninsula.
The latest assertion of military might contrasts with a diplomatic effort unfolding on the Korean Peninsula this week, as United Nations envoy Jeffrey Feltman pays a rare visit to the increasingly isolated nation.
Mr Feltman’s visit follows North Korea’s latest test of an intercontinental ballistic missile. The projectile soared higher than any previous attempt, according to military experts, before crashing into the sea near Japan.
North Korea claimed it now has the power to strike anywhere in the United States.
Global condemnation followed, with Trump administration officials reiterating that they were prepared to take military action if diplomacy failed.
After urging other nations to sever all ties with North Korea, America’s ambassador to the United Nations, Hikki Haley, warned that “the North Korean regime will be utterly destroyed” in the event of war.
China, seen as crucial to dampening the Korean threat because of its geographic proximity and trading ties with the North, has discouraged such bellicose talk, saying both sides are increasing the risk of conflict.
Chinese officials have urged America to suspend joint military drills as a condition of a peace deal.
