North Korea's Missile Test Response, South Korean And US Stealth Fighter Jets Fly Over Korean Peninsula

Illustration of the US Army and South Korean ATACM MGM-140 ATACM launch exercise. (Wikimedia Commons/US Army)

JAKARTA - South Korea and the United States flew fighter planes including stealth fighter jets over the waters around the Korean peninsula. This is at the same time as a show of response to the missile test that was recently carried out by North Korea.

North Korea has fired three missiles, including one it considers an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said three missiles were fired in less than an hour from the Sunan area of the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, where its international airport has become a missile test centre.

The first missile launched on Wednesday appeared to be an ICBM, while the second unidentified missile appeared to have failed mid-flight, the JCS said. While the third missile is a short-range ballistic missile (SRBM).

In response, the United States and South Korea held joint live-fire drills, including a surface-to-surface missile test involving the US Army's MGM-140 Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) and the South's Hyunmoo-2 SRBM, the two militaries said.

There are about 16 South Korean warplanes, including F-35 stealth fighters and four US F-16 jets, forming an attack squadron over the West Sea - also known as the Yellow Sea. The Seoul Joint Chiefs of Staff said it was in response to an 'enemy threat'.

"The Allies demonstrated their ability and strong will to strike quickly and accurately against any provocation from North Korea," Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff added.

The aerial maneuvers, which involved about 20 warplanes, came a day after the allies fired eight ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan following Pyongyang's weapons test on Sunday.

US and South Korean officials have warned for weeks that Kim Jong Un's regime is preparing to carry out a new nuclear test.

US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, in Seoul on a three-day visit, warned there would be a "quick and strong" response if Pyongyang went ahead with what would be its seventh test.

"Any nuclear test would be in complete violation of UN Security Council resolutions," he told reporters after meeting his South Korean counterpart.