The air force of South Korea said that on February 23, the United States and South Korea jointly practiced intercepting missiles over the Korean Peninsula. The exercise was in reaction to many weapons tests carried out by the North Korean authorities this year.
North Korea has made many blatant attempts to demonstrate its military might in the area so far this year. Analysts speculate that the regime may employ the low-altitude cruise missiles, which are intended to get past adversaries' missile defenses, to attack American aircraft ships and military installations in Japan.
In addition to its massive arsenal of ballistic missiles that can be fired from both land and water, North Korea and its allies are also developing cruise missiles.
According to a statement from the South Korean air force, the joint exercise comprised additional fighter planes from South Korea as well as fifth-generation stealth F-35A aircraft from the United States and South Korea. On February 21, the United States sent F-35As from Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan, into South Korea, it continued.
According to observers, the North Korean dictatorship has increased the frequency of its weapons testing in recent years in an effort to gain greater leverage in any future diplomatic discussions with its adversaries in the West.
But it has provoked a strong reaction from ally South Korea and the United States, who have increased military drills and a trilateral training program with Japan.
During a G20 meeting in Rio de Janeiro on February 22, top diplomats from the three allied countries decided to strengthen their combined response capability against North Korea's evolving nuclear threats. South Korea, the US, and Japan would work together to stop North Korea's financing of its nuclear program, according to the South Korean Foreign Ministry.
In view of this year's presidential elections in both South Korea and the US, North Korea, on the other hand, is probably going to intensify its prior missile testing and aggressive posture in an attempt to assert its nuclear state status and win international recognition.
According to some analysts, the action may be a part of the North's plan to lift economic sanctions placed on it by the United States.
Concerns have been expressed that North Korea's increasingly brazen approach, which includes expanding its nuclear arsenal, could eventually result in a military provocation against the South; however, given the military might of the US and its ally, South Korea, a full-scale attack appears improbable at this time.
Officials from the United States and South Korea have made strong warnings against Kim Jong Un's communist state in North Korea. They have highlighted that any nuclear assault on either nation would result in a counterattack that would topple Kim's dictatorial rule.
Kim has often made aggressive remarks regarding South Korea; most recently, he said that he no longer hopes for amicable relations with the neighboring nation and openly labeled South Korea as an enemy of the state.
