The North Koreans also have a knack for timing: The latest test comes at a time when China is irate at South Korea and the United States over plans to deploy an advanced missile system in the South, a move many Chinese hawks could view as equally provocative as the North’s nuclear tests.
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“They are bluffing that B-1Bs are enough for fighting an all-out nuclear war”, it said in a statement carried on the state-run news agency.
Accompanied by four South Korean F-15s and four U.S. F-16s, two supersonic nuclear-capable B1-B bombers departed from Anderson Air Force Base in Guam and did a fly-over in South Korean airspace, reports The Korea Times.
A US B-1B Lancer bomber flies over the Osan Air Base, South Korea, on Tuesday.
A USA intelligence official said North Korea is the only country in the world that threatens others with a nuclear attack, and that Pyongyang shows no signs of backing off its nuclear program. The significance of these bombers is that they are capable of holding the largest possible payload, and it marks the first time in 10 years that the US has had a bomber force in the Pacific.
Those missions covered more than 7,000 hours of flight time.
The B-1 bombers used in the fly-over had been used repeatedly in operations in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, some of which were supposed ISIS hunts. It has, however, blamed the USA for escalating tensions in the region.
“Bombers in general are well-suited to the vast distances and challenges of the Pacific”. It uses such flyovers and the American military influence in the South in its propaganda as alleged proof of US hostility that it says is the reason it needs a nuclear bomb program. “And so it’s important that it (China) uses its location, its history and its influence to further the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula”.
Nuclear scientist Siegfried Hecker, who has regularly visited North Korea’s nuclear facilities, pointed to the latest test as evidence that the US must negotiate with North Korea rather than seek results through sanctions.
North Korea’s state media reported heavy rain in late August and early September caused extensive damage near the Tumen river.
The US warned of “serious consequences”.
President Obama issued a statement, calling North Korea’s actions “provocative and destabilizing”, and assuring that the US has an “unshakeable commitment” in defending its allies, ABC News noted.
“Left unchecked, Pyongyang will likely develop the capability to reach the continental United States with a nuclear tipped missile in a decade or so”, Siegfried wrote on the North Korea-focused website 38 North. The aircraft flew past the USA air base in Pyeongtaek accompanied by four South Korean F-15Ks and four US F-16s.
While the B-1s made a strong USA statement Tuesday, Brooks, the United States commander, pointed out they aren’t the only weapon in the U.S. arsenal.
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Both Park and Brooks reaffirmed that the US and South Korea are still committed to the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in Seongju.
