Donald Trump declares US is prepared for war with North Korea

USA

A US Navy destroyer sailed near islands claimed by China in the South China Sea last week, seeking to promote freedom of navigation. The manoeuvre prompted anger in Beijing.

Trump’s trip next month will include a visit to China, which he has been pressuring to do more to rein in North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs.

U.S.Air Force B-1B bomber, centre, and a South Korean fighter jet F-15K fly over the Seoul Airport where a site for the 2017 Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition. Picture: AP

Tensions between North Korea and America continue after two US bombers flew close to North Korea yesterday in a show of force to intimidate despot Kim Jong-un.

The supersonic US B-1B strategic bombers zoomed over South Korea as part of an air show prompting Kim to warn the Korean peninsula is on the “eve of explosion”.

They flew low over Seoul Air Base for eight minutes as part of the Seoul International Aerospace and Defence Exhibition 2017.

The first bomber was escorted by two South Korean F-15K fighter jets and flew as low as 450 metres above the ground before exiting to the west.

The second flew even lower, just 150 metres above the site.

“Their altitudes were so low that they were seen well from the stands, and not only the roar, but even a little vibration was also felt that spectators gaped at them,” a defence ministry official said.

Theaircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) is escorted into Busan port, South Korea, after completing a joint drill with the South Korean military. Picture: AP

The bombers took off from Guam’s Anderson Air Base earlier in the day before entering the skies of South Korea.
The flyover comes 11 days after two B-1B bombers carried out surprise night-time exercises over the waters off South Korea’s east and west coasts in a show of force against North Korea.

US naval commanders have reiterated Washington’s “iron-clad” commitment to defend South Korea against North Korean threats as an American nuclear-powered aircraft carrier visited a South Korean port following a joint naval drill.
Rear Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of Naval Forces Korea, said aboard the USS Ronald Reagan that the drills enhanced the allies’ ability to co-ordinate operations.

TheUSS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier arrives in the South Korean port city of Busan. Picture: AFP

The five-day drills that ended Friday involved fighter jets, helicopters and 40 naval ships and submarines from the two countries training for potential North Korean aggression. In an apparent show of force against North Korea, the United States also sent several of its advanced warplanes, including four F-22 and F-35 fighter jets and two B-1B long-range bombers, for an air show and exhibition in Seoul that began on Tuesday.

The United States has been sending its strategic assets to the region more frequently for patrols or drills amid increased efforts by North Korea to expand its nuclear weapons program.

In recent months, North Korea has tested developmental intercontinental ballistic missiles that could potentially reach the U.S. mainland and conducted its most powerful nuclear test to date. It also flew two powerful new mid-range missiles over Japan between threats to fire the same weapons toward Guam, a U.S. Pacific territory and military hub.