U.S., South Korea conduct live-fire air drills to counter North Korea threat

SpaceWar.com reports: “U.S. and South Korean aircraft this week held a joint live-fire exercise focused on countering North Korean cruise missile and artillery threats, the South’s Air Force said Friday.

The five-day exercise began on Monday over the waters of the Yellow Sea and involved 40 aircraft including South Korean F-35A, F-15K, KF-16, F-16, FA-50 and F-4E jets. American A-10 and F-16 planes from the U.S. 7th Air Force, which is stationed in the country, also participated.

‘The training was conducted under a scenario of intercepting low-altitude cruise missiles launched by the enemy and precision striking the origin of the enemy’s firepower provocation,’ the South Korean Air Force said in a press release.

The drills came in the wake of recent pointed threats from North Korea toward the South. Last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a long-range artillery firing exercise of units near the inter-Korean border that place the South Korean capital of Seoul within ‘striking range.’

Kim also supervised the test of a new surface-to-sea cruise missile last month, as the North strengthens its defense posture near a contentious maritime border in the Yellow Sea…”

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