MOSCOW (Sputnik) – A total of four US F-35B stealth jets and two B-1B strategic bombers have carried out joint drills with South Korean F-15K fighter jets, media reported Thursday, citing the South Korea’s Air Force.
The Yonhap news agency specified that air-to-ground precision-strike exercises were held in the South Korea’s northeastern province of Gangwon and implied the use of MK-84, MK-82 and GBU-32 bombs.
#China won't allow war at its door amid US-#SouthKorea drills, #NorthKorea's missile launch https://t.co/749qff4LiP pic.twitter.com/oJT47HIiXM
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) August 31, 2017
The South Korean Air Force reportedly said that the exercises were a joint "air interdiction operation," demonstrating the allies' ability and determination to deal with the North's provocations, which threaten regional and global security.
The drills took place two days after Pyongyang launched a missile that flew over Japan before falling into the Pacific Ocean 733 miles east of Japan's northern island Hokkaido. The move was condemned by the international community.
Seeking the ways to resolve the ever-growing crisis, China put forward a road map in June, the so-called double freeze plan, which provides for the simultaneous cessation of both North Korea's nuclear activity and the US-South Korean military exercises. The initiative has been supported by Russia but rejected by the United States. North Korea has yet to issue a response to the proposal.
On August 5, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2371, which further tightens sanctions against North Korea in response to Pyongyang's ballistic missile tests conducted in late July.
