The move by South Korean and US militaries came in a continued show of force as a senior US official warned of a forceful response if North Korea goes ahead with its first nuclear test explosion in nearly five years, Taiwan News reported.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the air demonstration involved 16 South Korean planes — including F-35A stealth fighters — and four US F-16 fighter jets and was aimed at demonstrating their ability to swiftly respond to North Korean provocations.
The flight came a day after the allies fired eight surface-to-surface missiles into South Korea’s eastern waters to match a weekend missile display by North Korea, which fired the same number of weapons from multiple locations Sunday in what was likely its biggest single-day testing event.
Traveling to Seoul to discuss the standoff with South Korean and Japanese allies, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman warned of a “swift and forceful” response if the North carries out another nuclear test.
“Any nuclear test would be in complete violation of UN Security Council resolutions. There would be a swift and forceful response to such a test,” Sherman claimed, following a meeting with South Korea Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong.
Sherman and Cho are planning a trilateral meeting with Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Mori Takeo on Wednesday over the North Korean nuclear issue.
RHM/PR
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