US Flies B-1 Bombers Over South Korea To Deter North Korea  

Four days after North Korea’s fifth and the most powerful nuclear weapons test, the US Air Force responded with a show of force on Tuesday, flying two powerful, battle-tested B-1 bombers over South Korea.

North Korea claimed Friday’s test showed it had a nuclear warhead that could be mounted on ballistic missiles, a possibility that increases fears for US allies in the region and also poses a threat to US bases in South Korea, Japan and Guam.

“North Korea’s nuclear test is a dangerous escalation and poses an unacceptable threat,” Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, U.S. Forces Korea commander, said in a statement on Tuesday. “The United States has an unshakable commitment to defend allies in the region and will take necessary steps to do so, including operations like this one today.”

The B-1s were joined by US F-16 and South Korean F-15 fighters in the low-level flyover of Osan Air Base, 40 miles (64km) south of the South Korean capital of Seoul.

The United States sent nuclear-capable supersonic B-1B bombers, escorted by US and South Korean jets. The bombers were likely to return to Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, without landing in South Korea. Such flyovers are common during higher-than-normal animosity on the Korean Peninsula, which is technically in a state of 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. North Korea is keenly aware of the US presence on the peninsula and of what it considers the US nuclear threat. It uses such flyovers and the American military influence in the South in its propaganda as proof of US hostility that it claims as the reason it needs a nuclear bomb program.

Pyongyang’s claim to have used standardized 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. 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 Defense Ministry spokesman Moon Sang Gyun said yesterday that 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. Moon refused to say what specific evidence pointed to another possible nuclear test. But the South’s Yonhap news agency, citing unidentified Seoul government sources, reported yesterday that there were signs the North had finished test preparations at one tunnel that has never been used. Yonhap did not elaborate. Seoul, Washington and their allies have vowed to apply more pressure and sanctions after the test, the second this year.

International community united against North Korea: US

The international community including China is united against North Korea which has conducted its fifth nuclear test, the White House has said, asserting that US President Barack Obama takes the threat seriously and is committed to protect Americans. I know that there was a statement from the Security Council over the weekend that indicated that they were going to consider additional economic sanctions that could be imposed against North Korea for their continued and flagrant violations of a variety of Security Council resolutions, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said.

Noting that for a statement like that to come forward, it has to have unanimous agreement of the Security Council, Earnest said that is an indication of how unified the international community is in prioritising the situation in North Korea, in being alarmed about the situation there and in considering additional steps to isolate it even further. So there is some important work to be done at the UN and the US will be supportive of that process, he said.

There is a THAAD battery that has been deployed to Guam. The US and South Korea recently agreed to deploy an additional THAAD battery in South Korea - all of which is oriented against the threat from North Korea, he said. It is an indication that President Obama takes the threat seriously and is committed to taking the prudent steps that are required to protect the American people and our allies, Earnest said.

Obama had said how the administration has been pleased with constructive contribution that the Chinese have made to applying pressure on the North Koreans, Earnest said. The President believes there is more that they could do. There have been a number of conversations, including between President Obama and President Xi (Jinping), about the need to continue to make dealing with this situation a priority, he said as he refrained from responding to questions on US sanctions against North Korea.

“I certainly would not rule out an announcement like that, but those kinds of sanctions are not the kind of sanctions that we talk about publicly because doing so would only tip our hand and allow those who were the target of the sanctions to make arrangements to try to avoid them before we were even able to implement them in the first place. If there are more sanctions like that that are put forward, then we’ll certainly announce them publicly and explain to you the rationale for why they were imposed. But we will not do that until a final policy decision has been made about them,” Earnest said in response to a question. The US has steps at the direction of the Commander-in-Chief to enhance its anti-ballistic-missile capabilities in the Asia Pacific.

The US has deployed additional naval assets in the Pacific, including Aegis systems that can be used to defend the US against ballistic missiles, he said. There is technology that has been deployed to Japan to better track those missiles and enhance our ability to defend the US and our allies against them.

--Agencies