South Korea Holds A Bombing Exercise With F-35 Combat Jets, Targets North Korean Missile Launching

Illustration of the F-35 fighter jet. (Wikimedia Commons/US Air Force)

JAKARTA - South Korea and the United States conducted joint air exercises on Friday, focusing on increasing attack capability of North Korean missile-related facilities, hours after Pyongyang fired another long-range ballistic missile, according to the Seoul military.

The South Korean Air Force F-35A stealth fighter jet held an attack exercise on North Korea's Transportor Launcher vehicle with a GBU-12 air laser-guided bomb, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) announced, launching the Korea Times November 18.

Four F-35A aircraft also carried out joint flights with four US Air Force F-16 fighter aircraft in a joint attack formation over the East Sea during training, JCS added.

The Allies "showed their strong desire to respond decisively to any threats and provocations, including North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), and their extraordinary ability and readiness to attack the enemy appropriately," the JCS said.

As previously reported, North Korea fired what was considered the Hwasong-17 ICBM into the East Sea.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected a launch from the Sunan area in Pyongyang at 10:15 a.m. But gave no other details.

Separately, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said in Tokyo the "intercontinental ballistic missile class" projectile flew about 1,000 kilometers in a "high" trajectory and reached an altitude of up to 6,000 km.

He added that the government did not issue orders to destroy it. The missile is said to have landed about 200 km (124 miles) west of Oshima-Oshima Island in the northern prefecture of Hokkaido.