US nuclear bombers in show of force
The United States yesterday sent two nuclear-capable supersonic bombers streaking over ally South Korea in a show of force meant to cow North Korea after its recent nuclear test and also to settle rattled nerves in the South.
The B-1B bombers, escorted by US and South Korean jets, flew over Osan Air Base, which is 120 kilometres from the border with North Korea, and the world’s most heavily armed. The bombers were likely to return to Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, without landing in South Korea.
Such flyovers are common when high animosity rises on the Korean Peninsula, which is technically at war as there has never been a peace treaty to end the 1950-53 Korean War.
South Korea does not have nuclear weapons and relies on the US ‘‘nuclear umbrella’’ as a deterrent to North Korea. Washington also stations more than 28,000 troops in the South, and tens of thousands more in Japan.
North Korea is keenly aware of the US presence on the peninsula and of what it considers the US nuclear threat. It uses the American military influence in the South in its propaganda as alleged proof of US hostility that it claims as the reason it needs a nuclear bomb programme.
Last week’s nuclear test, the North’s fifth, was its most powerful. Pyongyang’s claim to have used ‘‘standardised’’ warheads in the detonation makes some outsiders worry that it is making headway in its push to develop small, sophisticated warheads that can be mounted on missiles that can reach the US mainland.
Nuclear expert Siegfried Hecker, who has regularly visited the North’s nuclear facilities, estimates the North may have enough nuclear fuel for about 20 bombs by the end of 2016 and the ability to add about seven new bombs a year.
‘‘Left unchecked, Pyongyang will likely develop the capability to reach the continental United States with a nuclear tipped missile in a decade or so,’’ Siegfried wrote on the North Korea-focused website 38 North. He said that more troubling was the recent test successes may give Pyongyang a false sense of confidence.
Diplomatic efforts to rid the North of its bombs have been stalled since 2008. Since then, Pyongyang has ramped up both its ballistic missile and nuclear bomb development, despite an increasing raft of sanctions.
After the test, the North’s nuclear weapons institute said it will take unspecified measures to further boost its nuclear capability, which analysts said hinted at a possible sixth nuclear test.
South Korea’s Defence Ministry spokesman Moon Sang Gyun said South Korean and US intelligence authorities believe North Korea has the ability to detonate another atomic device at any time at one of its tunnels at its main Punggye-ri nuclear test site, where the five previous atomic explosions took place.