US, South Korea kick off largestever joint air drill
North Korea has labelled the exercise an ‘allout provocation’
SEOUL: The US and South Korea on Monday kicked off their largest ever joint air exercise, an operation North Korea has labelled an “all-out provocation”, days after Pyongyang fired its most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile.
The five-day Vigilant Ace drill -- involving 230 aircraft, including F-22 Raptor stealth jet fighters, and tens of thousands of troops -- began Monday morning, Seoul’s air force said.
Pyongyang over the weekend blasted the drill, accusing US President Donald’s Trump’s administration of “begging for nuclear war”.
The annual exercise comes five days after the nuclear-armed North test-fired a new ICBM, which it says brings the whole of the United States within range.
As tensions surged, US Senator Lindsey Graham, an influential Republican and foreign policy hawk, warned that the US was moving closer to “preemptive war” with the North. “If there’s an underground nuclear test (by the North), then you need to get ready for a very serious response by the US,” Graham told the CBS show Face the Nation.
The isolated and impoverished North has staged six increasingly powerful atomic tests since 2006 -most recently in September.
“The preemption is becoming more likely as their technology matures. Every missile test, every underground test of a nuclear weapon, means the marriage is more likely,” he said.
Graham’s remarks echoed those of Trump’s national security adviser HR McMaster, who told a security forum that the potential for war with the North “is increasing every day.” The North has boasted that the Hwasong 15 ICBM is capable of delivering a “super-large” nuclear warhead anywhere in the US.
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.