North Korea accuse US forces of nuclear drill

Two US supersonic bombers flew over the Korean Peninsula for bombing exercises in a show of force against North Korea ahead of US president Donald Trump’s first official visit to Asia.

A South Korean military official said the B-1B bombers based in Guam were escorted by two South Korean F16 fighter jets during the drills on Thursday at a field near the South’s eastern coast.

The drills simulated attacks on land targets, but did not involve live weapons.

The B-1B was originally designed with nuclear capabilities, but switched to a conventional combat role in the mid 1990s.

But North Korea’s state media denounced the exercise as a “surprise nuclear strike drill” and said “gangster-like US imperialists” were seeking to ignite a nuclear war. The North Korean nuclear threat is likely to overshadow Mr Trump’s trip to Asia, which starts tomorrow in Japan and will include stops in South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines.