South Korea hosts nearly 30,000 USA troops and several bases.
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Military experts raise concerns that North Korea is moving closer toward obtaining the ability to put nuclear warheads on a variety of its ballistic missiles, a growing arsenal that one day may include a reliable weapon that could reach the USA mainland.
The US military on Wednesday sent two strategic bombers to South Korea in a show of force against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) over its latest nuclear test.
It said the flight, which took off from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, was the closest a B-1B strategic bomber had ever flown to the border between South and North Korea.
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.
On September 13 two B-1 bombers were escorted by United States and South Korean fighter jets in a show of solidarity with Seoul.
South Korea’s ruling and opposition parties on Wednesday continued to debate over whether Seoul should consider its own nuclear armament as an option to defend the country, amid the escalating tension on the Korean Peninsula sparked by Pyongyang’s provocations.
The statement came just days after the United States said it had deployed nuclear-capable strategic bombers on the island of Guam.
South Korean Air Force Operational Commander Lt. Gen.
The B-1B does not now carry nuclear weapons, and some do not consider it nuclear capable in its current configuration.
North Korea has been testing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles at an unprecedented rate this year, beginning with its fourth nuclear test in January and including the launch of a satellite in February that was widely seen as a test of long-range ballistic missile technology. It is capable of carrying the largest payload of both guided and unguided weapons in the air force inventory.
The country also claimed on 20 September that it had successfully carried out a ground test of a new rocket engine for launching a geostationary satellite: a development that will probably boost Pyongyang’s growing missile capabilities. Under the system, South Korea and the US will work together to destroy mobile launch pads with F-35 fighter jets upon confirmation of missile locations provided by USA satellite imagery.
In another demonstration of force, Washington is planning to dispatch a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to South Korea next month as part of its efforts to deter further military provocations by the North, reports have said.
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Top officials, however, rejected the lawmakers’ calls, seeking to reassure them of Washington’s extended deterrence involving its nuclear umbrella, reaffirmed recently by President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry.
