US bomber drops precision weapons in drills over Korean Peninsula
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The South Korean Defense Ministry reveals that fighter planes in the drills also engaged in live-firing exercises to demonstrate the country's willingness to respond to the DPRK if provoked.
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US Air Force B-1B bomber, left, and South Korean fighter jets F-15K fly over the Korean Peninsula on June 5, 2024. (AP)
In joint air drills with South Korea, the United States flew a long-range B-1B bomber over the Korean Peninsula.
The White House reported that on Wednesday, a US bomber and two South Korean F-15K Eagles launched accurate 500-pound JDAMs (joint direct attack bombs) on the location.
The bomber then flew alongside sophisticated South Korean F-35A and KF-16 fighter planes, as well as US fighters and tankers.
According to the US military, the bomber can quickly deliver "massive quantities of precision and non-precision weapons against any adversary, anywhere in the world, at any time."
The South Korean Defense Ministry reported that fighter planes in the drills also engaged in live-firing exercises to demonstrate the country's willingness to respond to the DPRK if provoked.
According to Seoul, the B-1B performed a "live munitions drop" on the Korean Peninsula for the first time in seven years to demonstrate its capacity to "precisely strike a deep target."
The contentious war simulations, led by the US, are anticipated to exacerbate the region's already high tensions, with South Korea threatening to resume all military actions along its border with the DPRK.
The DPRK has frequently cautioned the US against deploying such aircraft in the region.
South Korea approves suspension of inter-Korean military agreement
The South Korean government reportedly authorized a decision on Tuesday to halt a 2018 agreement aimed at reducing tensions between the DPRK and South Korea, according to the Yonhap News Agency.
The proposal was endorsed during a cabinet meeting, occurring a day after the presidential National Security Council's decision to suspend the agreement and include such a proposal on the meeting's agenda.
According to the report, the motion will be forwarded to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for his signature.
This comes after Pyongyang sent hundreds of trash-filled balloons across the border.
In November 2023, following the DPRK's launch of its Malligyong-1 reconnaissance satellite into orbit, South Korea partially suspended the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement.
