SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — American nuclear-capable bombers and stealth fighters launched a show of force against North Korea on Tuesday as the North Korean leader’s influential sister, Kim Jong Un, scoffed at doubts about the military of his country and threatened to test the full range of its ICBMs.
The deployment of the B-53 bombers and F-22 fighters for joint exercises with South Korean warplanes was part of an agreement to protect South Korea by all available means, including nuclear power, according to the South Korean defense ministry.
The exercises, which also involved South Korean F-35 and F-15 fighter jets, were held in waters southwest of Jeju Island, the ministry said. US F-22 fighters have deployed to South Korea for the first time in four years and will continue training with South Korean forces this week, he said.
The exercises came after North Korea announced in recent days the launch of a test satellite to develop its own military spy satellite and the testing of a solid fuel engine for use in more mobile ICBMs.
North Korea has already launched a record number of missiles this year as a warning for previous military exercises in Seoul and Washington, which it sees as a dress rehearsal for an invasion. It is feared it could react to new allied air exercises with a new round of missile tests.
On Tuesday, Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, used derogatory terms such as “harmful slurs,” “garbage” and “barking” to criticize outside analyzes that questioned the development of spy satellites and long-range missiles by of North Korea. scope.
