US flies fighter jets over South Korea in show of force after North's rocket launch
The United States has flown four F-22 stealth fighter jets over South Korea in a show of force following North Korea's recent rocket launch.
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The flight of the radar-evading F-22s, based in Okinawa, Japan, is the latest deployment of key US strategic military assets to the South after the North defied warnings from world powers and conducted a fourth nuclear test last month.
South Korea and the US said the North's rocket launch on February 7 was a long-range missile test and violated UN Security Council resolutions that ban the use of ballistic missile technology by the isolated state.
North Korea said it was a satellite launch.
The US military said at the weekend it had deployed an additional Patriot high-velocity missile interceptor unit to South Korea in response to recent North Korean provocations.
The allies were also expected to begin discussions on the deployment of the advanced Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missile defence system.
Last month, the US flew a B-52 bomber capable of carrying nuclear weapons on a low-level flight over the South following the North's January 6 nuclear test.
The joint military drills scheduled to start in March, which in most years last eight weeks and involve hundreds of thousands of South Korean and US troops, will be the largest ever, according to South Korean officials.
There are 28,500 US troops stationed in the South as part of combined defence with the South's military of more than 600,000. The North has an army of 1.2 million.
North Korea claims the annual drills are war preparations.
South Korea and the US say the exercises, which have been conducted for years without major incident, are defensive.
US flies fighter jets over South Korea in show of force after North's rocket launch - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Q. How do you do a 'show of force' with undetectable stealth fighters?
A. Issue a press release afterwards explaining what you you did.
