US holds bombing drill over Korean peninsula

SHOW OF STRENGTH: The exercise comes at a time of growing tension after N Korea carried out several missile tests

SEOUL: A group of US stealth fighter planes carried out the first precision bombing drill on the Korean peninsula this week, American military officials in South Korea said on Saturday.

Aircraft from a US air base in Japan participated in the drill as part of the Korean Marine Exchange Programme developed by Washington and Seoul, which took place between Monday and Thursday, according to the officials.

The F-35B fighters carried out a precision air-tosurface bombing manoeuvre on a mountain range in Gangwon province, east of Seoul, before returning to their base in Japan.

It is the first time that F-35B fighters, which can reach a speed of Mach 1.6 (around 1,900 km per hour) and are known for being strategic bombers, have taken part in a manoeuvre on the Korean peninsula, Efe news reported.

The drill comes at a time of growing tension in the region, after North Korea carried out a record number of nuclear and missile tests in 2016. The deployment of military assets for this year’s drills — conducted from early this month to Friday— was the largest to date.

The US allocated 10 F-35B fighters to its Japanese air base in Iwakuni in January and six more are expected to be sent by the end of the year.

In case of any contingency on the peninsula, one of the first US forces to support South Korea would depart from the Japanese base, the officials added.

Meanwhile, US officials said in Washington that specific intelligence indicators have shown that North Korea is ready for its sixth underground nuclear test at any time. Satellite imagery indicates a potentially significant change at the Punggyeri test site, the officials told CNN on Friday.

For weeks, the satellites had observed extensive activity on the surface, including vehicles, personnel and equipment, as well as two tunnel entrances being dug out.

But the latest imagery shows that activity has now stopped, “a similar change in the pattern also observed before previous tests, indicating all final preparations were now complete.”

The South Korean government issued a statement on Friday also saying a test can happen as soon as North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un orders it.

“It is assessed that North Korea is ready to carry out a nuclear test anytime if its leadership decides to do so,” Lee Duk-Haeng, spokesman for South Korea’s the Ministry of Unification, said in the statement.

He said that “South Korean and US intelligence authorities evaluate that North Korea is ready to carry out a nuclear test anytime on the leadership’s decision.”

North Korea also continues to move equipment and personnel that could be used to launch ballistic missiles, the US officials told CNN.

They warned that it was impossible for the US to know when a mobile launch or an underground nuclear test will happen.

According to the officials, the US is maintaining the presence of a WC-135 aircraft in the region that can conduct air sampling after a suspected underground test.