US, South Korea kick off massive joint air exercise
North Korea has labelled the exercise an ‘allout provocation’
SEOUL: Hundreds of aircraft including two dozen stealth jets began training on Monday as the United States and South Korea launched a massive combined air force exercise.
The war games come a week after North Korea test-fired its most powerful missile ever, an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that may be able to target the US eastern seaboard. The five-day drill called Vigilant Ace, is meant to improve the allies’ wartime capabilities and preparedness, South Korea’s defence ministry said.
The US Seventh Air Force sent major strategic military assets, including an unusually large number of the latest generations of stealth fighter jets, for the annual training in the Korean Peninsula. They include six F-22 and 18 F-35 stealth fighter jets. About 12,000 US military personnel are participating. In total, 230 aircraft will be flying at eight US and South Korean military installations in the South.
An official at the South Korean defence ministry, who spoke on condition of anonymity, corrected his earlier statement that the exercise was the biggest ever.
Some local media report that B-1B bombers will also join aerial drills, but officials did not confirm their participation.
The training, held each year in late fall, is not in response to any incident or provocation, the Seventh Air Force said in a statement.
North Korea’s state media said the drill pushes the Korean Peninsula “to the brink of nuclear war.”
Pyongyang will “seriously consider” countermeasures against the drill, and the U.S. and South Korea will “pay dearly for their provocations,” the Korean Central News Agency said before the start of the exercises. 2 AIRLINE CREWS ‘SAW N KOREA MISSILE TEST’ The crew of a Cathay Pacific flight and pilots of two different Korean Air planes saw what they believe to be North Korea’s latest missile test last week.
Cathay said on Monday that the flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong reported witnessing the apparent re-entry of the ICBM that North Korea launched before dawn on Wednesday.
The missile was far from the plane, and operation was unaffected, Cathay said, adding that it had informed other carriers and relevant authorities.
“At the moment, no one is changing any routes or operating parameters,” the airline said.
Korean Air pilots on two different planes also reported seeing flashes of light believed to be the North Korean missile when they were flying over Japan, airline spokesman Cho Hyun-mook said.
The flights, one from San Francisco and the other from Los Angeles, were both headed for Incheon, the main airport serving Seoul, South Korea.