Two B1-B bombers flew over South Korea in a show of force and solidarity after North Korea’s fifth nuclear test Tuesday, according to reports.
Accompanied by four South Korean F-15s and four U.S. F-16s, two supersonic nuclear-capable B1-B bombers departed from Anderson Air Force Base in Guam and did a fly-over in South Korean airspace, reports The Korea Times. The U.S. carried out similar flights in January.
Tthe people of North Korea are “exploding like a volcano” over the bomber flights, North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) revealed.
Out of all U.S. nuclear-capable bombers, the B1-B can carry the largest payload. It can carry 61 tons of weaponry, including 24 nuclear bombs, 24 joint direct attack munitions (JDAM), 84 conventional bombs, 24 air-to-surface missiles, and 8 cruise missiles. The B1-B can also travel at a maximum speed of Mach 2.
“Today’s demonstration provides just one example of the full range of military capabilities in the deep resources of this strong alliance to provide and strengthen extended deterrence,” Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, commander of the Combined Forces Command (CFC) and United States Forces Korea (USFK), said in a statement. “The United States and the Republic of Korea are taking actions every day to strengthen our alliance and respond to North Korea’s continued aggressive behavior,” he added.
South Korea’s President Park called for South Korea to maintain a high-level of combat readiness to ensure that it can retaliate against a North Korean assault. “The military should be determined to bring about an end to the North Korea regime once it fires a nuclear missile. We need to take more effective actions against its nuclear provocations,” Park said during a meeting Tuesday. She also mentioned that South Korea should strengthen its ties with the United States to guarantee protection under its “nuclear umbrella.”
Both Park and Brooks reaffirmed that the U.S. and South Korea are still committed to the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in Seongju. Furthermore, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan, will visit South Korea in the near future as an added show of force.
Additionally, the U.S. is seeking the “strongest possible” sanctions against North Korea for its fifth and most powerful nuclear test, said Sung Kim, U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy, during a press conference in Seoul Tuesday. The U.S. desires “new sanctions to demonstrate to North Korea that there indeed are consequences for its unlawful and dangerous actions,” he explained.
“Neither sanctions nor provocations nor pressure can ever bring down the position of the DPRK as a full-fledged nuclear weapons state,” a spokesman for the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee told KCNA reported. “The high-handed political and military provocations of the enemies will only invite a merciless nuclear strike which will lead them to final ruin,” the spokesman added.
South Korea has also developed plans for the obliteration of Pyongyang as part of the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation (KMPR) plan involving “beheading operations” designed to eliminate Kim Jong Un and other key members of the North Korean leadership.
“If the U.S. imperialists and their vassal forces show even a slight sign of launching the ‘beheading operation’ for what they call ‘collapse of social system’ or ‘conquest of Pyongyang,’ an order will be immediately issued to the Hwasong artillery units of the Strategic Force of the Korean People’s Army to fire rockets fully tipped with nuclear warheads,” KCNA reported the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee spokesman as saying.
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