US military in show of force to cow N Korea
OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea: The US has 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, 120km from the border with North Korea.
Such flyovers are fairly common when animosity rises on the Korean Peninsula, which is technically in a state of war because there has never been a peace treaty to officially 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 28000 troops in the South, and tens of thousands more in Japan.
The B-1B doesn’t currently carry nuclear weapons under a disarmament treaty, but the US has yet to convert the B-1s to non-nuclear heavy bombers using treaty procedures. South Korean military officials and analysts said that they could carry nuclear weapons if reconfigured.
North Korea is keenly aware of the US presence on the peninsula and of what it considers the US nclear threat. It uses such flyovers and the US military influence in the South in its propaganda as alleged proof of US hostility justifying its need for a nuclear bomb programme.
Last week’s nuclear test, the North’s fifth, was its most powerful to date. 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 that the North may have enough nuclear fuel for about 20 bombs by the end of the year 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.
Six-nation diplomatic talks aimed at ridding the North of its bombs have been stalled since the last round of meetings in late 2008. Since then, Pyongyang has ramped up both its ballistic missile and nuclear bomb development, despite an increasing raft of sanctions.
After last week’s test, the North’s nuclear weapons institute said it would take unspecified measures to further boost its nuclear capability.
South Korea’s Defense Ministry said on Monday that South Korean and US intelligence authorities believed North Korea had the ability to detonate another atomic device at any time at its main Punggyeri nuclear test site, where the five previous atomic explosions took place.
Seoul, Washington and their allies have vowed to apply more pressure and sanctions after the test.
Yesterday, South Korean President Park Geun-hye ordered her military to be ready to “finish off” North Korea if it fires a nuclear missile toward South Korea. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s “mental state is spiraling out of control”, she said, and his government shows “fanatic recklessness”. – AP