SEOUL - The United States held joint air exercises bilaterally with South Korea and Japan involving strategic bombers on Sunday, a day after North Korea fired a Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in a “sudden launching drill”.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the exercise, in which South Korea’s F-35A, F-15K and US F-16 fighters escorted American B-1B bombers, demonstrated the allies’ “overwhelming” defence capabilities and readiness posture.

“(The exercise) strengthened the combined operation capability and affirmed the United States’ ironclad commitment to the defence of the Korean peninsula and the implementation of extended deterrence,” said the South’s military in a statement.

Japan flew F-15s over the Sea of Japan/East Sea with the US Armed Forces’ B-1 bombers and F-16s in tactical exercises, Japan’s Defence Ministry said in a statement, calling the security environment “increasingly severe” after the latest North Korea missile landed within its Exclusive Economic Zone.

“This bilateral exercise reaffirms the strong will between Japan and the United States to respond to any situation, the readiness of (Japan’s Self-Defence Forces) and US Armed Forces, and further strengthens the deterrence and response capabilities of the Japan-US Alliance,” said the ministry.

The air drills come a day after North Korea launched a long-range ballistic missile into the sea off Japan’s west coast, following a warning of a strong response to upcoming military drills by South Korea and the US.

North Korea’s state media KCNA said the country conducted a “sudden launching drill” on Saturday in “actual proof” of its efforts to turn the “capacity of fatal nuclear counter-attack on the hostile forces into an irresistible one”.

Leader Kim Jong Un’s sister, Ms Kim Yo Jong, issued yet another warning and accused the US of trying to turn the United Nations Security Council into what she called a “tool for its heinous hostile policy” towards Pyongyang.

“I warn that we will watch every movement of the enemy and take corresponding and very powerful and overwhelming counteraction against its every move hostile to us,” she said.

Saturday’s missile launch, the North’s first since Jan 1, came after Pyongyang threatened on Friday an “unprecedented persistent, strong” response as South Korea and the US geared up for their annual military exercises as part of efforts to fend off the growing nuclear and missile threat that the North poses.

North Korea’s state news agency said its missile had flown for 1hr, 6min and 55sec, as high as 5,768km, before accurately hitting a pre-set area 989km away in open waters. It first test-fired a Hwasong-15 in 2017. In 2022, nuclear-armed North Korea fired an unprecedented number of missiles, including ICBMs capable of striking anywhere in the US, while resuming preparations for its first nuclear test since 2017.

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin said Saturday’s launch clearly signals the North’s intent to conduct further provocations.

“If North Korea conducts the seventh nuclear test, which could happen at any time, it will be a game changer in a sense that North Korea could develop and deploy tactical nuclear missiles,” Mr Park told the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.

KCNA said the North’s latest launch, guided by the Missile General Bureau, was conducted on an “emergency firepower combat standby order” given at dawn, followed by a written order from Mr Kim at 8am (7am Singapore time). South Korea’s military said it detected the missile at 5.22pm.

“The important bit here is that the exercise was ordered... without warning to the crew involved,” said Mr Ankit Panda, a missile expert at the Washington–based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “The amount of time between the order and the launch is likely going to be decreased with additional testing.”

Analysts said North Korea is likely to conduct more weapons tests, including a possible new solid-fuel missile, which could help the North deploy its missiles faster in the event of a war.

North Korea’s ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programmes are banned under UN Security Council resolutions, but Pyongyang said its weapons development is necessary to counter “hostile policies” by Washington and its allies. REUTERS