A squadron of US planes led by a B-1B bomber fly over a US air base south of Seoul. [Yonhap News Photo]
The flight by two US B-1B bombers over South Korea demonstrates the "unshakable" US commitment to its key Asian ally in the wake of North Korea's nuclear test, the US Forces Korea commander (USFK) said Tuesday.
The supersonic bombers left US Andersen Air Force Base in Guam on Tuesday morning and arrived over the skies above the Osan Air Base, south of Seoul, at 10:00 a.m.
It flew past the US air base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, accompanied by a flight of four South Korean F-15K and four US F-16 fighter jets.
"North Korea's nuclear test is a dangerous escalation and poses an unacceptable threat. The United States has an unshakable commitment to defend allies in the region and will take necessary steps to do so, including operations like this one today, and the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Air Defense (THAAD) battery to the Korean Peninsula," USFK Commander Gen. Vincent K. Brooks told reporters at Osan air base.
"Today's demonstration provides just one example of the full range of military capabilities in the deep arsenal of this strong alliance to provide and strengthen extended deterrence," he said.
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Lee Sun-jin said if North Korea continues to develop its nuclear weapons, it will meet retaliatory actions that will "shake the very founding of its regime."
The two generals also said the alliance military forces remain ready to meet mutual defense obligations against threats to the security of the Korean Peninsula and the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.
In recent years, Pyongyang has escalated its saber-rattling despite warnings issued by the international community. On Friday, it detonated its fifth nuclear device in the face of strong opposition to its weapons of mass destruction programs.
The US has in the past taken a series of military counteractions following major provocations by the North.
On January 10, four days after the North conducted its fourth nuclear test, the US sent a B-52 Stratofortress strategic bomber to the skies above the same air base as a show of force. The bomber can be armed with nuclear missiles and "bunker buster" bombs that are capable of destroying the North's hardened underground facilities.
In August, the US Air Force forward deployed the B-1B bomber in the US Pacific Command's Andersen Air Force Base on Guam partly to better counter the North's nuclear and missile threats.
The B-1B, which first went into operation with the US Air Force in the 1980s, is capable of reaching speeds of up to Mach 1.25, or 1,335 kph, at very low altitude. It can carry nuclear weapons, as well as conventional guided bombs, such as the GBU-38 and the GBU-54.
(Yonhap)
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
