SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military flew two strategic bombers
over the Korean peninsula in a show of force late on Tuesday, as President
Donald
Trump met top defense officials to discuss how to respond to any threat
from North Korea.
Tensions have soared between the United States and North Korea following
a series of weapons tests by Pyongyang and a string of increasingly bellicose
exchanges between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
North Korea has launched two missiles over Japan and conducted its sixth
nuclear test in recent weeks as it fast advances toward its goal of developing
a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland.
The two U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers were joined by two F-15K fighters
from the South Korean military after leaving their base in Guam, South Korea’s
Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement on Wednesday.
After entering South Korean airspace, the two bombers carried out
air-to-ground missile drills in waters off the east coast of South Korea, then
flew over the South to waters between it and China to repeat the drill, the
release said.
The U.S. military said in a separate statement it conducted drills with
Japanese fighters after the exercise with South Korea, making it the first time
U.S. bombers have conducted training with fighters from both Japan and South
Korea at night.
The U.S. bombers had taken off from the Andersen Air Force Base in Guam.
In August, Pyongyang threatened to fire intermediate-range missiles toward the
vicinity of Guam, a U.S. Pacific territory that is frequently subjected to
sabre-rattling from the North.
GUARD RAISED
South Korean and U.S. government officials have been raising their guard
against more North Korean provocations with the approach of the 72nd
anniversary of the founding of North Korea’s ruling party, which fell on
Tuesday.
Trump hosted a discussion on Tuesday on options to respond to any North
Korean aggression or, if necessary, to prevent Pyongyang from threatening the
United States and its allies with nuclear weapons, the White House said in a
statement.
Trump was briefed by Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford at a national security team
meeting, the statement said.
U.S. and South Korean wartime operational plans, including a plan to wipe
out the North Korean leadership, were stolen by North Korean hackers last year,
a South Korean ruling party lawmaker said on Wednesday.
Some 235 gigabytes of military documents were taken from South Korea’s
Defense Integrated Data Center in September last year, Democratic Party
representative Rhee Cheol-hee said in radio appearances on Wednesday, citing
information from unidentified South Korean defense officials.
In May, an investigative team inside the defense ministry announced the
hack had been carried out by North Korea, but did not disclose what kind of
information had been taken.
SHIPS BANNED
The United Nations Security Council, which has imposed a series of ever
tighter sanctions on North Korea, has banned four ships from ports globally for
carrying coal from North Korea, including one vessel that also had ammunition.
The vessels are the first to be designated under stepped-up sanctions
imposed on North Korea by the 15-member council in August and September over
two long-range ballistic missile launches and Pyongyang’s sixth and largest
nuclear test.
Reuters
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