The United States and South Korea are conducting their largest-ever combined air exercises on the Korean peninsula. Officials said this year’s exercise was the biggest ever, with more than 100 aircraft taking part.
The US has about 28,500 troops in South Korea. The annual exercise, called Korea Flight Training, began last week and will end on Friday.
“We have an incredibly strong alliance and this exercise is a tangible example of that,” US Air Force spokeswoman Rachel Buitrago told reporters at the base in the city of Gunsan on Friday. Pilots, planners and maintenance personnel are working side by side.
Buitrago said the drills were purely defensive, with pilots practising how to respond to fire from the ground or from other aircraft. “We are constantly training to be ready in case we are attacked,” he said.
Officials say the drills are not being conducted with a specific enemy in mind, but their focus is clear.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula
North Korea’s state media reported on Saturday that the country had tested a “super-large warhead” for a strategic cruise missile and a new anti-aircraft missile.
The tests took place in the same Yellow Sea waters as the Korean Flight Training, North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency reported on Saturday, adding that “the technologies are fast”.
Earlier this month, North Korea conducted its second hypersonic missile test. An analysis on 38 North, a North Korea-related website, said North Korea’s missiles “demonstrated their potential to hit Japan if used at mid-range”.
US President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol agreed in a joint statement following their summit to “initiate discussions to expand the scope and scale of unified military exercises and training on and around the Korean Peninsula in 2022”. The two leaders cited the need to “strengthen deterrence” in the face of North Korea’s “destabilising activities”.
The US military presence in the region and the deployment of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier have further strained relations with North Korea. South Korea, which has aligned its security doctrine with that of the United States, sees its ties with Washington as “reassurance” against North Korea.
Preparing for tomorrow
US and South Korean air force officials at Kunsan say their aim is to be ready for any scenario, referring to their joint slogan “Fight Tonight”.
Colonel Michael McCarthy, a US pilot taking part in the exercise, said the purpose of the training was for pilots from both countries to get to know each other by operating together. He added that the experience of operating a powerful aircraft over the Korean peninsula was “overwhelming”.
“We’re working to inoculate ourselves against the stress of a major operation,” McCarthy said, “so tomorrow will be a little easier.”
