North Korea's Fighter Jet And Bombing Officer, South Korea Sends 30 Fighters

Illustration of South Korea's F-15 fighter jet. (Wikimedia Commons//Republic of Korea Armed Forces)

JAKARTA - South Korea flew fighter jets after North Korean warplanes carried out bombing exercises on Thursday, Seoul's Defense Ministry said, after Allied warships held missile defense exercises, in response to Pyongyang's ballistic missile shooting.

Flying in formation, North Korea sent eight fighter jets and four bombers for bombing drills, responded with the deployment of 30 fighter jets by South Korea.

"12 North Korean military aircraft, four bombers and eight fighter jets, flew in formation and may have carried out shooting exercises on Thursday," South Korean military officials said, citing the Korea Times Oct. 6.

"Flying formations occurred in the south of the'special monitoring route' between Pyongyang City and Wonsan in North Korea at around 2 pm, and they are assumed to have carried out shooting exercises from the air to the surface," he continued.

While launching Reuters, warplanes stormed each side of the heavily fortified border, amid rising tensions over a series of missile tests by Pyongyang.

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea on Thursday towards Japan, just one hour after condemning the reposition of US carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) with its strike group to the region.

Since early 2022 until now, North Korea has launched about 40 missiles, including its largest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), Hwasong-17 and appears to be ready to hold its first nuclear test since 2017, officials in Seoul and Washington said.

In response to Thursday's missile launch, carrier strike group USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), joined with destroyers from South Korea and Japan in maritime missile defense training, South Korea's military said on Thursday.

"This training focuses on mastering detection, tracking, and interception procedures through joint target information under (North Korea) scenario provocations for ballistic missiles," he said in a statement.