US holds air force exercise with South Korea and Japan Major clean-up operation after heavy storm surge in Northern Germany

In a sign of their increased security cooperation, the US, South Korea and Japan held three air force exercises near the Korean Peninsula for the first time. The exercise took place in the airspace south of the peninsula, the South Korean air force announced on Sunday. The maneuver was mainly aimed at the growing threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programme.

In addition to fighter jets from the three countries, an American B-52H long-range bomber was also reportedly deployed. The bomber can be equipped with nuclear bombs. Like neighboring Japan, South Korea falls under the US nuclear protection umbrella.

As South Korean media reported, it was the first time the three countries undertook such an aerial exercise together. During a three-way summit in August in the US, they agreed, among other things, to expand their cooperation in the fields of economics and security. With a view to North Korea, they also want to exchange real-time missile information in the future and cooperate more closely in defense against ballistic missiles. North Korea, which is classified as hostile by the US, regularly tests such missiles, which – depending on the design – can also be equipped with a nuclear warhead despite UN ban decisions.

The trilateral exercise took place in an area where the air traffic control zones of South Korea and Japan overlap, the report said. Such a zone is a kind of military buffer zone. It is not part of the territory of any country, but aircraft flying through it are intended to identify themselves. (yam/sda/dpa)