US Air Force F-35A stealth fighter jets arrived in South Korea on Tuesday in their first publicly announced visit since 2017, as allies and nuclear-armed North Korea engage in an escalating cycle of weapons displays.
Joint military exercises have been publicly scaled back in recent years, first in 2018 because of efforts to engage diplomatically with North Korea and later because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who took office in May, has sought to increase public displays of Allied military might, including exercises, to counter a record number of missile tests carried out by North Korea this year.
North Korea also appears to be preparing to test a nuclear weapon for the first time since 2017. The six F-35As will stay in South Korea for 10 days, the South Korean Defense Ministry said in a statement.
“The purpose of this deployment is to demonstrate the strong deterrence and joint defense posture of the US-ROK alliance while at the same time improving interoperability between the ROK and the US Air Force,” the ministry said, referring to South Korea. South by the initials of its official name.
The aircraft was deployed from Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska, the US Forces Korea (USFK) said in a statement.
A USFK spokesperson said it was the first public deployment of the 5th-generation fighter to South Korea since December 2017, but did not elaborate on whether there were unannounced visits.
A former senior US official previously told Reuters that during diplomatic negotiations many exercises did indeed continue but were not disclosed.
South Korea has purchased 40 of its own F-35As from the United States and intends to buy another 20. The South Korean air force F-35A will be among the aircraft participating in the joint exercises, the USFK said.
North Korea denounced South Korea’s joint exercises and arms purchases as an example of “hostile policies” that prove US offers to negotiate without preconditions are hollow.
Source: CNN Brasil
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