US flies nuclear-capable bombers amid tensions with North Korea

The United States flew nuclearcapable B52 bombers to the Korean Peninsula again on Wednesday in a show of strength against North Korea amid concerns that the North might conduct a nuclear testThe longrange bombers took part in joint aerial drills with US and South Korean fighter jets over the Korean Peninsula South Koreas Defence Ministry said It said it was the first deployment of US B52 bombers to the peninsula in a monthThe drills show the strong resolve of the South KoreaUS alliance and its perfect readiness to respond to any provocation by North Korea swiftly and overwhelmingly Lt Gen Park Ha Sik commander of the South Korean air force operation command said in a statementThe South Korean and US militaries have been expanding their combined military drills in response to North Koreas nuclear and missile threatsThe allies conducted their biggest field exercises in five years and computer simulations last month The US also sent the nuclearpowered USS Nimitz aircraft carrier for joint naval training with South Korea last week and USSouth KoreaJapan antisubmarine drills this weekAlso Read North Korea testfires 2 more missiles as tensions riseNorth Korea sees such drills as provocations that show its rivals intention of attacking the North A day after the last flight by a B52 bomber to the peninsula on March 6 Kim Yo Jong the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned that her country was ready to take quick overwhelming action against the United States and South KoreaNorth Korea has since testlaunched a series of nuclearcapable weapons designed to attack South Korea and the United States They included the Norths longestrange Hwasong17 intercontinental ballistic missile a developmental nuclearcapable drone and cruise missiles fired from a submarineLast week North Korea unveiled a new battlefield nuclear warhead to fit on shortrange weapons targeting South Korea That touched off speculation that it may want to carry out its first nuclear test since 2017 because its last two nuclear test detonations happened after it disclosed other new warheads If conducted it would be the Norths seventh nuclear weapons testWhether North Korea has functioning nucleararmed missiles remains a subject of debate Some experts say a nuclear detonation would be aimed at testing a miniaturised warhead for shortrange missiles because the countrys recent weapons tests have focused more on weapons that place key military installations in South Korea including US military bases there within striking distanceKim Jong Un has said North Korea wont return to denuclearization talks with the US unless Washington drops hostile polices toward the North an apparent reference to its joint military drills with South Korea and USled international economic sanctions Some observers say Kim wants to use his growing weapons arsenal to pressure Washington to accept it as a nuclear power and lift the sanctionsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever