MADRID, 18 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
South Korea and the United States plan to start large-scale air exercises with F-35B fighters at the end of October in response to North Korea’s missile launch into the Sea of Japan.
In the drills, which will take place in South Korean airspace from Oct. 31 to Nov. 3, the South Korean Air Force will deploy some 140 combat aircraft, including F-35A, F- 15 and KF-16, according to the Yonhap agency.
Meanwhile, the United States Army plans to deploy around 100 aircraft, including F-35B fighters from a US base in Japan, as detailed by the authorities and collected by the aforementioned agency.
These military tests have been planned amid rising tensions with North Korea and after concern has grown about Pyongyang carrying out nuclear tests, all after several weeks in which the country led by Kim Jong Un has launched multitudes of missiles into the Sea of Japan, two of them flying over Japanese territory.
“The planned training is aimed at checking the wartime combined air operations systems between the South Korean and U.S. air forces, as well as improving their combat readiness posture,” a South Korean military official told The Associated Press. Yonhap.
These drills are similar to the ‘Vigilant Ace’ exercise that was suspended in 2018 amid the then-Moon Jae In Administration’s push for inter-Korean reconciliation.