Two B-52 bombers of U.S. Air Force fly near Korean Peninsula

It was confirmed that two U.S. Air Force B-52 bombers had flown over the East Sea of the Japanese archipelago on Tuesday. The bombers, which had not been witnessed recently on the Korean Peninsula in light of the U.S.-North Korea denuclearization talks, have returned.

According to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command on Wednesday, two B-52 fighter jets departed from Andersen Air Force Base on Guam on Tuesday and flew north towards the east coast of Japan near the Kamchatka Peninsula and returned. “These missions, flown by Pacific Air Forces, routinely operate throughout the region in accordance with international law and norms,” the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said via its official website.

However, there are some views that the reappearance of B-52 bombers, which were usually used for flight trainings near the South Sea of China, near the Korean Peninsula signals U.S. warning towards North Korea, which broke off the talks and resumed provocations.

“B-52 long-range bombers are key strategic asset that is most feared by North Korea,” a South Korean military source said. “It is seen as a warning that the U.S. can reach the peninsula when North Korea provokes with its nuclear missiles.”

The U.S. has significantly strengthened surveillance of North Korean nuclear missiles. It has dispatched an RC-135U Combat Sent, an electronic surveillance plane that collects and sends missile related intelligence (signal information) to the president and military command. The E-3 early warning and control aircraft, which is taking part in the Join Combat Search and Rescue Exercises (Pacific Thunder), was also identified at at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek on Tuesday.


Sang-Ho Yun ysh1005@donga.com