The United States, South Korea, Japan and China have been testing for airborne or ground radiation in the region but say they haven’t found any evidence supporting the claim of an H-bomb test.
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In addition to the B-52 bomber, USA and South Korean defense authorities were continuing discussion on further deployment of ” strategic assets”, South Korea’s defense ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok said at a press briefing on Monday.
The B-52 was joined by South Korean F-15 fighter aircraft and U.S. F-16 Fighting Falcons, the release said.
Meanwhile, the South’s unification ministry announced that it would restrict to a minimum the number of its citizens at the inter-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex.
North Korea’s fourth nuclear test angered both China, its main ally, and the U.S., although the United States government and weapons experts doubt the North’s claim that the device was a hydrogen bomb.
A U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber flies over Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, Sunday, Jan. 10, 2016.
Officials said the B-52 is capable of bombing North Korea’s military commanding facilities from a location some 3,000 kilometers away and it takes only four hours for the U.S.to bring the bomber from the Guam base to the Korean Peninsula.
Under the deal, South Korea agreed to suspend the loudspeaker broadcasts “unless any abnormal situation takes place”.
US forces in South Korea were also put on their highest level of alert on Monday.
The chairman of South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff, Lee Sun-jin, said North Korea was likely to carry out further sudden provocations.
As I reported previously (See: “US B-52 Bomber to Get New Long-Range Cruise Missile”), the B-52 can perform strategic attack, close-air support, air interdiction, offensive counter-air and maritime operations, according to the U.S. Air Force website. Since Friday, South Korea has been blasting anti-Pyongyang propaganda from huge speakers along the border, and the North is reportedly using speakers of its own in an attempt to keep its soldiers from hearing the South Korean messages. However, U.S. Forces Korea could not confirm the dispatch of U.S. military assets, according to Reuters.
The South Korean broadcasts include the criticism of Kim Jong-un and his regime as well as recent pop music, world news and weather forecasts. Some 120 South Korean companies run factories in the Kaesong complex, employing tens of thousands of DPRK workers.
The United States and other global powers condemned North Korea for testing another bomb, and the United Nations Security Council met in emergency session to consider increasing economic and diplomatic pressure on Pyongyang.
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North Koreans holding national flags march during a parade to mark the 60th anniversary of the signing of a truce in the 1950-1953 Korean War at Kim Il-sung Square, in Pyongyang July 27, 2013.
