| South Korea and the United States conduct a combined air power demonstration involving 20 warplanes over the West Sea, June 7. Yonahp |
South Korea and the United States conducted a combined air power demonstration involving 20 warplanes, including F-35A stealth fighters, over the West Sea, Tuesday, Seoul officials said, in another display of their readiness following North Korea's weekend missile launches.
The air maneuvers came just a day after the allies fired eight ground-to-ground ballistic missiles into the East Sea in a tit-for-tat response to the North's launch of eight short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs), Sunday.
"We conducted the combined flight to show our deterrence capabilities and capabilities to respond (to North Korean provocations)," a military official here told reporters on condition of anonymity.
In the allied demonstration, the South mobilized its mainstay jets, including F-35As, F-15Ks and KF-16s, while the U.S. deployed F-16 fighters, according to the officials.
Seoul and Washington have been stepping up security coordination through such displays of military might in the wake of Pyongyang's continued saber-rattling amid concerns about the possibility of it carrying out an underground nuclear weapon test.
Seoul officials have warned that Pyongyang's military provocations will be met with "corresponding" reactions.
Shortly after the North's launch of three ballistic missiles, including an apparent intercontinental ballistic missile, on May 25, the South and the U.S. conducted combined missile launches in their first such joint move since 2017.
| A U.S. MH-60 helicopter lands on South Korea's 14,500-ton amphibious landing ship Marado during a combined exercise held in waters off Okinawa, June 2. Courtesy of Joint Chiefs of Staff |
The allies also conducted a naval exercise near the peninsula involving a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier last week. (Yonhap)