The air forces of Seoul and Washington conducted a training exercise with a US B-1 strategic bomber and fighter jets from both countries on Monday, hours after North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile.

The maneuvers were carried out over South Korea as part of joint exercises that the two countries have been conducting since the 13th, to which Pyongyang responded with a series of missile tests.

In addition to the B-1, which had already been deployed to the Korean Peninsula on the 3rd, the exercise included F-35A stealth fighters from the Asian country and US F-16 jets.

The new deployment of the strategic bomber came on the same day that Pyongyang launched a short-range ballistic missile into the Sea of ​​Japan (known as the East Sea in both Koreas) and three days after the regime launched an intercontinental ballistic missile, the Hwasong-17, believed to be the most long-range in their arsenal.

South Korea’s defense ministry said Seoul and Washington “maintain the highest level of joint defense against North Korea’s ongoing threats to regional stability.”

The North’s latest weapons tests are Pyongyang’s response to joint maneuvers by Seoul and Washington in the south of the peninsula, which the North views as “a test to invade its territory, which it has promised to give.” an unprecedented response.”