[앵커]
The ROK and U.S. Air Forces conducted their first combined flight training involving the F-35A.
There are speculations that it has sent a strong warning message to North Korea, which has completed preparations for its seventh nuclear test.
Correspondent Han Sang-yong.
[기자]
Next-generation stealth fighter F-35A moves in line.
Soon after, it roars and soars from the runway.
You can see them flying in formation in the sky.
This is the scene where the ROK and the US Air Force conducted joint flight training for the first time using the F-35A in the domestic mission airspace since the 11th.
About 30 units of the Korean Air Force’s F-35A, F-15K, KF-16, and FA-50 and US Air Force’s F-35A and F-16 aircraft participated in the exercise.
Divided into virtual friendly and enemy forces, it performed major air operations missions such as attack squadrons, defense provision, and emergency air interception.
It will be the first time in four years and seven months since the end of 2017, when tensions on the Korean Peninsula increased after North Korea’s sixth nuclear test, that the U.S. F-35A will be training with the South Korean Air Force.
This exercise also took place amid the continued threat of North Korea’s seventh nuclear test and ballistic missile threat.
At the summit in May, South Korea and the United States agreed to ‘deploy strategic assets of the US military in a timely and coordinated manner’ amid the threat of North Korea and put it into practice.
“This exercise is an important exercise that symbolizes the strong ROK-U.S. alliance and combined defense posture. The pilots of the ROK and US air forces will share the tactics and operational know-how of the fifth-generation fighter through this exercise.”
“The most important goal of this combined flight training is to safely conduct tactical training with the ROK Air Force F-35A so that we can show the strong ROK-U.S. alliance.”
North Korea is sensitive to this exercise.
North Korea’s Foreign Ministry previously asserted that “the US’ reckless military provocations are creating an extremely dangerous situation on the Korean peninsula where war can occur at any moment.”
In response, an official from the presidential office dismissed the exercise, saying, “The training is done to prevent and prepare for war, and does not see it as a threat to war in itself.”
This is Yonhap News TV Han Sang-yong.
#Korea #US #F-35A #Joint training #Korea-US alliance
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