North Korea says US bomber flights signal pre-emptive nuclear strike

Updated

North Korea is accusing the United States of pushing the Korean peninsula to the brink of nuclear war after a pair of strategic US bombers flew over the area in a training drill with the South Korean air force. South Korean Defence Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun told a briefing that the deployment of U.S. bombers was part of efforts to deter provocation by North Korea and respond to threats posed by the North's nuclear and missile programmes. The supersonic B-1B Lancers were deployed in a joint training exercise with the Japanese air forces amid heightened tensions between Pyongyang and Washington. In a Tuesday report, the North’s official KCNA news agency slammed the US for deploying two supersonic B-1B Lancer bombers during a drill with the South Korean air force a day earlier. Tensions on the Korean peninsula have been high for weeks, driven by concerns that the North might conduct its sixth nuclear test in defiance of pressure from the United States and Pyongyang's sole major ally, China. Mr Trump did not say what conditions would need to be met for any such meeting to occur or when it could happen, but the White House said later North Korea would need to meet many conditions before a meeting could be contemplated.
Two Rockwell B-1B Lancer heavy bombers are flown over the Korean Peninsula by the United States, leading North Korea to accuse the US of preparing for nuclear warfare.