The United States on Wednesday deployed at least one B-1B bomber for joint bombing drills in South Korea for the first time in seven years, the defense ministry said, amid heightened tensions over the North’s trash balloon campaign and GPS jamming attacks.

During the exercise, the U.S. bomber dropped Joint Direct Attack Munitions at an unspecified firing range in the country, while being escorted by South Korean F-15K fighter jets, according to the ministry.

U.S. B-1B bombers last held such an exercise in South Korea in 2017.

“Under close coordination between South Korea and the United States, this exercise took place with a focus on implementing the U.S. extended deterrence commitment and strengthening the combined defense posture,” the ministry said.

Extended deterrence refers to America’s commitment to using the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear weapons, to defend an ally.

The ministry said the South’s F-15Ks also took part in the live-fire drills and demonstrated the “solid”
combined defense posture against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.

The U.S. bomber also staged joint air drills with South Korean F-35A and KF-16 fighters, as well as U.S. F-35B and F-16 jets. It did not specify the number of B-1B bombers deployed for the exercise.

It marked the allies’ second combined air exercise this year, involving U.S. strategic bombers, according to the ministry.

The allies’ show of force came amid heightened tensions over the North’s recent provocative acts, including its sending of around 1,000 trash-carrying balloons into the South since May 28, which prompted Seoul to fully suspend a 2018 inter-Korean military pact on Tuesday.

The North also jammed GPS signals in waters near the South’s northwestern border islands last week, fired short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea on Thursday, and made a botched attempt to launch a military spy satellite on May 27.

Source: Yonhap News Agency