North Korea South Korea and USA hold military exercise with B-1 bomber
South Korean and US forces have held a joint military exercise in the air in the face of a growing security threat from North Korea.
20.02.2025, 09:50
SDA
For the first time this year, a long-range ultrasonic B-1B bomber took part in the exercise, as announced by the South Korean Ministry of Defense. The one-day exercise was intended to demonstrate deterrence capabilities against the "increasingly sophisticated nuclear and missile threat from North Korea", according to a statement from the ministry in Seoul.
North Korea generally views such military exercises as a serious provocation and could respond with countermeasures. The security situation on the Korean peninsula is currently extremely tense. Since the beginning of the year, ruler Kim Jong Un has already carried out several missile tests. Pyongyang has also expanded its military cooperation with Moscow and, according to US and South Korean intelligence services, has deployed over 10,000 soldiers to the areas around Kursk for Russian support.
At the same time, South Korea has been in a prolonged state crisis since the end of last year. At the beginning of December, President Yoon Suk Yeol, who has since been suspended, declared martial law at short notice in the wake of a budget dispute with the opposition. South Korea is currently being governed by interim President Choi Sang Mok, while the Constitutional Court will decide in the coming weeks on Yoon's impeachment and possible new elections.
