The South Korean military announced on Friday (November 4th) that it had deployed stealth aircraft after detecting 180 North Korean fighter jetsin Pyongyang’s airspace. This is a new episode in the spectacular rise in tension in recent days on the Korean peninsula, where Seoul and Washington are conducting joint military exercises.
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff added that they have “deployed 80 fighter jets, including F-35As”. Aircraft mobilized for military exercises with the United States are also “loans” to take off, according to the same source.
Pyongyang warns Seoul and Washington
These joint air exercises were extended until Saturday after the failed launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) by North Korea on Thursday morning. They are among the largest ever made, with hundreds of warplanes involved on both sides.
Pyongyang said for its part that the extension of these exercises was “a very dangerous and bad choice”, and fired three short-range ballistic missiles late Thursday.
In the aftermath, the Seoul army detected around 80 artillery fire from the North in a “buffer” maritime from the Kumkang region, in the province of Kangwon, on the east coast of the country. These shots were denounced by Seoul and Washington, who have promised to take further steps to demonstrate their “determination and their abilities” in the face of growing threats from the North.