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US Air Force B-1 bombers, accompanied by fighter jets from South Korea and Japan, conducted a flyover near the Korean peninsula on Thursday, according to a statement from the US Air Force -- a move that has drawn harsh criticism from North Korea ahead of President Donald Trump's trip to the region.
Two B-1B Lancers from Anderson Air Force Base in Guam rendezvoused with the Japanese and South Korean jets as part of the planned "bilateral integration" exercise -- at one point flying over South Korea.
The "continuous bomber presence mission" was planned in advance and was "not in response to any current event," according to Air Force spokesperson Capt. Candice Dillitte.
US warns of N Korean 'provocations' as it sends bombers, carriers to region
US warns of N Korean 'provocations' as it sends bombers, carriers to region
US B-1 bombers flying from Guam have been seen regularly over the Korean Peninsula amid escalating tensions with Pyongyang -- running regular training flights with Japanese and South Korean fighter jets that often provoke the ire of the North Korean regime.
Pyongyang again issued a harsh response in the wake of Thursday's flight through its state-run media outlet KCNA claiming the exercise was a trial run for a surprise nuclear attack.
US bombers conduct drills off both coasts of Korean Peninsula
US bombers conduct drills off both coasts of Korean Peninsula
"The gangster-like US imperialists are ceaselessly resorting to their frantic nuclear threat and blackmail to stifle the DPRK with nukes at any cost," a post from KCNA said.
"On Thursday they let a formation of B-1B nuclear strategic bombers stationed at the Anderson Air Force Base on Guam stealthily fly into South Korea again to stage a surprise nuclear strike drill targeting the DPRK."
The flyover comes after two more US aircraft carriers joined the Japan-based USS Ronald Reagan in the Asia-Pacific region last week.
The Pentagon said the movement of the carriers and their accompanying strike groups was long planned, as the USS Nimitz heads back to the US West Coast after a deployment in the Middle East and the USS Theodore Roosevelt heads to that area to replace it.
But Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie Jr., director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters last week the three carrier groups would conduct a joint exercise to demonstrate their "unique and powerful capability," the first time that's happened in the Pacific in a decade.
The aircraft carriers will take part in drills on November 13, officials said.