JAKARTA - The United States held bilateral joint air exercises with South Korea and Japan, involving fighter jets and strategic bombers on Sunday, a day after North Korea fired the Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in a "short launch exercise".
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the drills, in which South Korea's F-35A, F-15K, and F-16 fighter jets escorted American B-1B bombers, showed "extraordinary" defense capabilities and preparedness postures.
"(The training) strengthens the combined operational capabilities and affirms the United States' strong commitment to the Korean Peninsula's defense and the widespread implementation of deterrence," the South Korean military said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Japan flew the F-15 over the Sea of Japan with US Armed Forces B-1 bombers and the F-16 in a tactical exercise, Japan's Ministry of Defense said in a statement, calling the security environment "sore" after North Korea's latest missile landed in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
"This bilateral exercise reaffirms the strong desire between Japan and the United States to respond to any situation, the readiness (Japan Self-Defense Forces) and the US Armed Forces and further strengthens the prevention and response capabilities of the Japan-US Alliance," the ministry said.
Air drills came a day after North Korea launched a long-range ballistic missile into the sea off Japan's western coast, following warnings of a strong response to military exercises planned by South Korea and the United States.
Earlier, North Korean state media KCNA said the country carried out a "short launch exercise" on Saturday, as "real evidence" of its efforts to turn a fatal nuclear counter-attack capacity against enemy forces into something unbearable".
Kim Yo-jong, the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, issued another warning, accusing the United States of trying to turn the UN Security Council into what she called a tool for her heinous hostile policies against Pyongyang.
"I warn you, we will monitor every enemy movement and take appropriate and very strong and extraordinary countermeasures against any movement that is hostile to us," he stressed in a statement.
North Korea's first missile launch on Saturday, the first since January 1, comes after Pyongyang on Friday threatened a "hard and persistent" response, as South Korea and the United States prepare for their annual military exercises as part of efforts to fend off North Korea's nuclear developments and missile threats.
North Korea state news agency KCNA said its missile had flown for 1 hour, 6 minutes and 55 seconds, as high as 5,768 km (3,584 miles), before accurately hitting previously defined areas of 989 km (614 miles) in open waters. North Korea first tested the Hwasong-15 in 2017.
KCNA said North Korea's latest launch, guided by the General Bureau of Missiles, was carried out on an "emergency arms combat alert order" given at dawn, followed by a written order from Kim Jong-un at 8 a.m. local time.
It is known that North Korea's ballistic missile and nuclear weapons program is prohibited under UN Security Council resolutions. However, Pyongyang said its weapons development was necessary to counter Washington's "hostile policy" and its allies.
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