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Heightened Alert? US Warplanes Make Korean Peninsula Flyover

© AP Photo / South Korean Defense Ministry, FileIn this June 20, 2017 file photo provided by South Korean Defense Ministry, U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers, top, and second from top, and South Korean fighter jets F-15K fly over the Korean Peninsula, South Korea
In this June 20, 2017 file photo provided by South Korean Defense Ministry, U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers, top, and second from top, and South Korean fighter jets F-15K fly over the Korean Peninsula, South Korea - Sputnik International
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The United States and South Korea are holding large-scale drills which come amid simmering tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.

South Korea's Yonhap News Agency cited sources within the country's military as saying that a US B-1B bomber has flown over the Korean Peninsula as part of massive US-South Korean war games.

Apart from the B-1B, two US F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jets took part in a bombing drill that has already been condemned by Pyongyang as an event that is allegedly pushing the Korean Peninsula to "the brink of nuclear war."

The five-day drills, which kicked off on Monday, will involve 230 aircraft and about 12,000 US military personnel.

READ MORE: Non-Nuclear Winter: Why Has North Korea Not Tested a Missile Since September?

They come a week after North Korea launched what it touted as its most sophisticated intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

© AP Photo / US Air Force, Airman 1st Class Zachary HadaA US B-1B Lancer bomber taking off. File photo
A US B-1B Lancer bomber taking off. File photo  - Sputnik International
A US B-1B Lancer bomber taking off. File photo

Commenting on the test, Pyongyang claimed that it has completed its "nuclear force" with the development of the Hwasong-15 ICBM, which is reportedly capable of covering 13,000 kilometers (8,077 miles).

READ MORE: US Calls on All Nations to Cut Off Ties With North Korea

According to the South Korean Defense Ministry, the ICBM can reach Washington DC or any other area of the continental US.

Meanwhile, North Korean state media have reported that late on Tuesday, United Nations political affairs chief Jeffrey Feltman arrived in North Korea, the highest-level UN official to visit Pyongyang since 2012.

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