US Flew Bombers Over Korean Peninsula Late Tuesday, South Korea Says

US Flew Bombers Over Korean Peninsula Late Tuesday, South Korea Says
U.S. B-1 bomber (C), flies over Osan Air Base with U.S. jets in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2016. The United States has flown nuclear-capable supersonic bombers over ally South Korea in a show of force meant to cow North Korea after its fifth nuclear test and also to settle rattled nerves in the South. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Reuters
10/10/2017
Updated:
10/11/2017

SEOUL (Reuters)—The U.S. military flew two Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers over the Korean Peninsula in a show of force late on Tuesday, Oct. 10, amid high tensions over North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, South Korea’s military said.

 The two B-1B bombers were accompanied by two F-15K fighters from the South Korean military after leaving their base in Guam, the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a news release on Wednesday.

After entering South Korean airspace, the two bombers carried out air-to-ground missile drills in the waters off the east coast of South Korea, then they flew over the South to the waters between it and China to repeat the drill, the release said.

The South Korean military said this was part of a regular exercise to bolster military defenses and also to display the alliance between the United States and South Korea.

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un inspects a military site in North Korea in this undated picture released by state media. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)
North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un inspects a military site in North Korea in this undated picture released by state media. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)
North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and other communist officials at an undisclosed location in North Korea in this picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency)
North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and other communist officials at an undisclosed location in North Korea in this picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency)
In this handout photo released by the South Korean Defense Ministry, South Korea's Hyunmu-2 ballistic missile is fired during an exercise aimed to counter North Korea's nuclear test on Sept. 4, 2017, in East Coast, South Korea. (South Korean Defense Ministry via Getty Images)
In this handout photo released by the South Korean Defense Ministry, South Korea's Hyunmu-2 ballistic missile is fired during an exercise aimed to counter North Korea's nuclear test on Sept. 4, 2017, in East Coast, South Korea. (South Korean Defense Ministry via Getty Images)
In this handout photo released by the South Korean Defense Ministry, U.S. Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) is firing a missile into the East Sea during a South Korea-U.S. joint missile drill aimed to counter North Korea's ICBM test on July 29, 2017, in East Coast, South Korea. ( South Korean Defense Ministry via Getty Images)
In this handout photo released by the South Korean Defense Ministry, U.S. Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) is firing a missile into the East Sea during a South Korea-U.S. joint missile drill aimed to counter North Korea's ICBM test on July 29, 2017, in East Coast, South Korea. ( South Korean Defense Ministry via Getty Images)

Two U.S. B-1 bombers carried out a training exercise on Tuesday with Japanese and South Korean military aircraft in the vicinity of the Sea of Japan, the U.S. military said, amid growing tension over North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs.

It was first time U.S. Pacific Command B-1B Lancers had conducted combined training with Japanese and South Korean fighter aircraft at night, the U.S. military said in a statement.