Two U.S. B-1B Lancer strategic bombers entered the Korean Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ) and joined a South Korea-U.S. joint air drill Saturday, one day after North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) toward the East Sea, military officials said.
“The training demonstrated the ROK-US combined defense capability and posture based on the alliance’s overwhelming power and the U.S. ironclad commitment to providing extended deterrence in defense of the Korean Peninsula,” the U.S. Air Force said in a release on Saturday.
U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bomber aircraft made a sortie over KADIZ escorted by South Korea’s F-35A jets and U.S. F-16 fighters.
On Friday, North Korea fired a Hwasong-17 ICBM, which is known to carry multiple warheads and have a range of around 15,000 kilometers, long enough to cover the entire U.S. mainland.
North Korea had announced a moratorium on nuclear and ICBM testing in 2017 but breached it earlier this year after a four-year hiatus.