US repeats show of nuclear force over SKorea

By Alex Jensen

SEOUL

The most dangerous aircraft in the United States’ air force inventory landed in South Korea on Wednesday, a day after North Korea announced it had conducted a successful new rocket engine test.

U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) welcomed the nuclear-capable B-1B supersonic bomber to Osan Air Base south of Seoul, with 7th Air Force Commander Lt. Gen. Thomas W. Bergeson insisting in a press statement that the South Korean-American alliance “will not be shaken by North Korea’s aggressive behavior”.

A pair of the same aircraft flew over the peninsula from their station at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam last week following the North’s fifth ever nuclear test.

While the USFK statement did not clarify how long the B-1B bomber would be staying in South Korea, it emphasized a willingness to act upon provocations by Pyongyang.

“What we are showing today is just one tool we have to choose from a wide array of options,” Bergeson added.

South Korea also weighed in with its own threat against the North, which may be preparing a long-range rocket launch based on its recent engine test -- analysts see such efforts as a cover for developing an inter-continental ballistic missile able to reach the U.S.

“The Korean Peninsula faces a grave security crisis,” said South Korean Air Force Operations Commander Lt. Gen. Lee Wang-keun. “Should the enemy provoke us once again, the Combined Air Forces will respond and eliminate their will and capability to fight."

USFK described the deployed bomber in question as being able to “rapidly deliver massive quantities of precision and non-precision weapons against any adversary, anywhere in the world, at any time”.

The U.S. previously stationed the aircraft in Guam just a couple of hours away -- local news agency Yonhap reported that another bomber flew over South Korea on Wednesday before returning to Andersen Air Force Base.

On Tuesday in New York, U.S. President Barack Obama urged the United Nations General Assembly to take action against North Korea, claiming that Pyongyang’s latest nuclear test “endangers all of us”.

The UN Security Council is yet to agree on a strengthened package of sanctions against Pyongyang.