This latest show of strength from the USA comes just over a week after it sent two B-1Bs to South Korea on September 13.
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North Korea has been testing nuclear and ballistic missiles at an unprecedented rate this year.
An American strategic bomber landed in South Korea on Wednesday in a show of force the USA said was aimed at reminding Pyongyang of its powerful military assets in the region.
The move comes a day after North Korea claimed it had successfully tested a new, high-powered rocket engine which the South said was created to demonstrate progress towards attaining a long-range missile.
On September 13 two B-1 bombers were escorted by US and South Korean fighter jets in a show of solidarity with Seoul.
Such flyovers are common when animosity rises on the Korean Peninsula, which is technically in a state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.
Lt. Gen. Thomas W. Bergeson said the deployment of the supersonic bombers was aimed at showing that the U.S. is committed to defending its ally South Korea from North Korean aggression.
DEADLY AIRCRAFT A US B-1B Lancer – aiming at reinforcing the USA commitment to its key ally – makes a landing at the Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek on Wednesday.
The B-1B does not now carry nuclear weapons, and some do not consider it nuclear capable in its current configuration.
It is capable of carrying the largest payload of both guided and unguided weapons in the US Air Force inventory. It announced a ground test of a long-range rocket engine Tuesday that could be used to launch a satellite into space. -South Korea drills that have sparked verbal attacks from North Korea’s state media and propaganda outlets.
To that end, the South Korean military will fire Hyunmoo-III cruise missiles with a range of 1,000 kilometers to target core command headquarters in the North Korean capital. The simple answer to that question is that nobody seems to know, bar the regime in Pyongyang, but the rhetoric – and continued missile and nuclear tests – seems meant to instill fear.
The United States, Japan and South Korea have roundly condemned the nuclear test and called for tough new measures to further isolate the communist state.
On Tuesday in NY, U.S. President Barack Obama urged the United Nations General Assembly to take action against North Korea, claiming that Pyongyang’s latest nuclear test “endangers all of us”.
The Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture-based USS Ronald Reagan was reportedly scheduled to participate in a joint naval exercise with the South Korean military from October 10 to 15.
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The announcement riled Pyongyang and caused consternation in China, the North’s principal trading partner and diplomatic ally, as Jason Thomson wrote for The Christian Science Monitor at the time.
