North Korea has accused the United States of threatening regional peace by deploying strategic bombers over the Korean Peninsula last week for trilateral exercises, UNN reports with reference to Newsweek.
Details
According to the US military, the exercises, which involved US, Japanese, and South Korean aircraft, demonstrated the collective ability to immediately respond to regional security challenges.
Why is this important?
North Korea is one of nine nuclear-armed countries and is estimated to possess 50 warheads and long-range missiles capable of delivering nuclear strikes on the US mainland. Kim Jong Un, the country's leader, has vowed to pursue an "unlimited expansion" of his nuclear arsenal.
Facing growing threats from North Korea, Japan and South Korea are protected by extended US deterrence, also known as the "nuclear umbrella," which involves a commitment to deter and respond to nuclear threats, including with the use of US nuclear weapons.
What else do you need to know?
Two US B-52H bombers were accompanied by two Japanese F-2 fighters and two South Korean KF-16 fighters during a trilateral flight on Friday, according to the US Indo-Pacific Command. This was the third such flight between the allies this year.
According to the Japanese and South Korean defense ministries, the flight took place over the East China Sea, west of Japan's Kyushu island and off the coast of South Korea's Jeju Island. Officially released photographs show six allied military aircraft flying in formation.
In a statement released on Sunday, the head of the Political Bureau of North Korea's Ministry of Defense stated that the joint military actions of the US and its two allies are a "major factor of danger" that increases military tension on the Korean Peninsula.
"We have the legitimate sovereign right to take countermeasures against provocative military actions, such as steps to strengthen a multilateral military alliance that threatens regional security, and joint military exercises that are clearly aggressive in nature," the statement said.
North Korea's Ministry of Defense also stated that the country's armed forces are in a state of "constant combat readiness" to counter so-called "collective provocations" from the US and its allies, deter their aggression, and respond to "acts of war."