US deploys nuclear-capable bombers with South Korea after Kim Jong-un’s sister issues fresh threats

The United States deployed nuclear-capable bombers and stealth planes for joint exercises with South Korea on Tuesday after the North Korean dictator’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, issued new threats.

The drills were held near the Korean peninsula after Yo-jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, mocked doubts about her country’s military and threatened an intercontinental ballistic missile test. full range.

Yo-jong, the younger sister of North Korea’s supreme leader, used a series of derogatory terms, including “barking dog,” “trash” and “malicious contempt,” as she dismissed outside assessments casting doubt on the Korean spy. from North. development of satellites and long-range missiles.

The South Korean Defense Ministry said the deployment of US B-52 bombers and F-22 stealth fighters was part of an agreement to protect South Korea with all available means, including nuclear. The drills also included South Korean F-35 and F-15 fighter jets that took place in the waters southwest of Jeju Island.

The US F-22 jets have been deployed to South Korea for the first time in four years and will remain throughout this week to train with South Korean forces, he said.

The drills came after North Korea claimed to have launched a test satellite for the development of its first military spy satellite and tested a solid-fuel engine to be used in a more mobile ICBM in recent days.

North Korea has already fired a record number of missiles this year as a warning about previous US and South Korean military exercises that it sees as an invasion drill. There are concerns that it could react to the latest allied air training with a new round of missile tests.

On Sunday, North Korea said its rocket launches were systems tests for its first military reconnaissance satellite and released two low-resolution photos of South Korean cities seen from space.

Some civilian experts in South Korea and elsewhere said the photos were too crude for surveillance purposes and the launches were likely a cover for North Korea’s missile technology.

The South Korean military claimed that North Korea fired two medium-range ballistic missiles.

Yo-jong said the test satellite carried a commercial camera because there was no reason to use an expensive, high-resolution camera for a one-shot test. She said that North Korea used two old missiles as space launch vehicles.

“Didn’t you think your assessments are too inadequate and reckless when you commented on our satellite development capability and preparations related to just two photos we published in our newspaper,” Kim Yo Jong, a senior Workers’ Party official in the power, he said in a statement broadcast in state media.

A spy satellite was among several high-tech weapons systems that Kim Jong Un promised to acquire to better deal with what he called US hostility.

Multiple warhead missiles, long-range solid-fuel missiles, underwater-launched nuclear missiles, nuclear-powered submarines, and hypersonic missiles are additional weapons that Kim wants to build.

Some experts say North Korea would eventually use such modern weapons systems and an expanded nuclear arsenal to pressure the US into winning sanctions relief and other concessions.

Kim’s sister rejected the South Korean government’s assessment that North Korea still has key technological hurdles to overcome for ICBMs to work and reach the mainland United States, such as the ability to protect its warheads from harsh atmospheric re-entry conditions.

She questioned how North Korea could have received data from warheads until they landed in specific areas in the ocean in previous launches if the country really lacked re-entry technology.

“I think you better stop talking nonsense, be careful and think twice,” he said.

Whether North Korea has a reliable arsenal of nuclear-armed missiles is a source of debate. But North Korea has repeatedly argued that its tests of missiles capable of reaching the United States and its allies have confirmed that the warheads can survive re-entry and other challenges.

All of North Korea’s ICBM tests have been conducted at a steep angle to avoid neighboring countries. Some experts have said that without the standard trajectory launch of ICBMs, the reliability of North Korea’s weapons cannot be guaranteed.

Addressing those concerns, Jong suggested that North Korea could fire an ICBM on a normal trajectory, a launch that could be seen as a much greater provocation to the United States, as the weapon would fly into the Pacific Ocean.

I can clarify your doubts about it. They will immediately recognize it in case we launch an ICBM in the path of the actual firing angle,” Jong said.

Kim Yo-jong, whose official title is deputy department head in the Workers’ Party Central Committee, is considered the most influential official in the North after her brother, according to South Korea’s spy service.

Lim Soosuk, a spokesman for the South Korean Foreign Ministry, called his threats to launch standard trajectory ICBMs “very regrettable.” He told reporters that North Korea’s nuclear ambitions would only deepen its international isolation and worsen economic hardship for its residents.

North Korea is one of the most sanctioned countries in the world due to its nuclear and missile programs. But Kim Yo Jong said Tuesday that North Korea is determined to bolster its defenses at all costs.

“We made it clear that we will not stand by as passive spectators of any attempt to violate the legitimate right of a sovereign state, but will exercise our fundamental rights and take them back at the risk of our lives if necessary,” he said.