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US phases joint air workouts with Asian allies after North Korea’s ICBM launch

February 20, 2023

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US stages joint air exercises with Asian allies

North Korean chief Kim Jong Un, alongside along with his daughter, walks away from an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on this undated photograph launched on November 19, 2022 by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). KCNA through REUTERS/File Photo

SEOUL — The United States held joint air workouts bilaterally with South Korea and Japan involving strategic bombers on Sunday, a day after North Korea fired a Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in a “sudden launching drill”.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff stated the train, by which South Korea’s F-35A, F-15K and U.S. F-16 fighters escorted American B-1B bombers, demonstrated the allies’ “overwhelming” protection capabilities and readiness posture.

“(The exercise) strengthened the combined operation capability and affirmed the United States’ ironclad commitment to the defense of the Korean Peninsula and the implementation of extended deterrence,” the South’s navy stated in an announcement.

Japan flew F-15s over the Sea of Japan with the U.S. Armed Forces’ B-1 bombers and F-16s in tactical workouts, Japan’s Defense Ministry stated in an announcement, calling the safety atmosphere “increasingly severe” after the newest North Korea missile landed inside its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

“This bilateral exercise reaffirms the strong will between Japan and the United States to respond to any situation, the readiness of (Japan’s Self Defense Forces) and U.S. Armed Forces, and further strengthens the deterrence and response capabilities of the Japan-U.S. Alliance,” the ministry stated.

The air drills come a day after North Korea launched a long-range ballistic missile into the ocean off Japan’s west coast, following a warning of a robust response to imminent navy drills by South Korea and the United States.

North Korea’s state media KCNA stated the nation performed a “sudden launching drill” on Saturday in an “actual proof” of its efforts to show the “capacity of fatal nuclear counterattack on the hostile forces into an irresistible one”.

Leader Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, issued one more warning and accused the United States of attempting to show the U.N. Security Council into what she known as a “tool for its heinous hostile policy” towards Pyongyang.

“I warn that we will watch every movement of the enemy and take corresponding and very powerful and overwhelming counteraction against its every move hostile to us,” she stated in an announcement.

Saturday’s missile launch, the North’s first since Jan. 1, got here after Pyongyang threatened on Friday an “unprecedentedly persistent, strong” response as South Korea and the United States equipped for his or her annual navy workouts as a part of efforts to fend off the rising nuclear and missile menace that the North poses.

North Korea’s state information company stated its missile had flown for 1 hour, 6 minutes and 55 seconds, as excessive as 5,768 km (3,584 miles), earlier than precisely hitting a pre-set space 989 km (614 miles) away in open waters. It first test-fired a Hwasong-15 in 2017.

‘Without warning’

Last 12 months nuclear-armed North Korea fired an unprecedented variety of missiles, together with ICBMs able to placing wherever within the United States, whereas resuming preparations for its first nuclear check since 2017.

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin stated Saturday’s launch “clearly” indicators the North’s intent to conduct additional provocations.

“If North Korea conducts the seventh nuclear test, which could happen at any time, it will be a game changer in a sense that North Korea could develop and deploy tactical nuclear missiles,” Park informed the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.

KCNA stated the North’s newest launch, guided by the Missile General Bureau, was performed on an “emergency firepower combat standby order” given at daybreak, adopted by a written order from Kim Jong Un at 8 a.m. (2300 GMT on Friday). South Korea’s navy stated it detected the missile at 5:22 p.m. (0822 GMT).

“The important bit here is that the exercise was ordered day-of, without warning to the crew involved,” stated Ankit Panda, a missile knowledgeable on the Washington–primarily based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “The amount of time between the order and the launch is likely going to be decreased with additional testing.”

Analysts say North Korea is prone to conduct extra weapons assessments, together with a attainable new solid-fuel missile which might assist the North deploy its missiles sooner within the occasion of a conflict.

North Korea’s ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programmes are banned underneath U.N. Security Council resolutions, however Pyongyang says its weapons growth is critical to counter “hostile policies” by Washington and its allies.