In response to the rising belligerence by North Korea, and its increasingly more frequent rocket launches, U.S. and South Korean troops staged a massive amphibious landing exercise Saturday, storming simulated North Korean beach defenses amid and threats by Pyongyang to annihilate its enemies.
Three senior U.S. military officials have confirmed that North Korea have lost contact with one of its submarines this week. According to U.S. spy satellites, ships and aircraft have monitored the situation over the past week, and observed that the North Korean navy have been struggling to find the missing sub. Usni.org reports: “About week ago it went missing and the speculation is that it sank,” the official told USNI News.
The U.S. have dispatched three B-2 stealth bombers to the Asia-Pacific region amid escalating tensions with North Korea. U.S. Strategic Command announced the deployment on Wednesday morning, but said the exact destination of the bombers were a secret. Townhall.com reports: The deployment was announced Wednesday by U.S. Strategic Command, which is responsible for U.S. nuclear forces. B-2 bombers are capable of launching nuclear as well as conventional weapons. They are based at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.
Russia has warned its ally North Korea to stop threatening “preventive nuclear strikes” against others as it could leave the door open for an international military intervention based on the legal ground of the right to self defense. The Guardian reports: The Russian foreign ministry statement, which follows a North Korean threat to “annihilate” the US and South Korea, also criticises Washington and Seoul for launching the largest joint military drills yet to be held on the peninsula.
North Korea’s leader has ordered that the country’s nuclear weapons are prepared for use at any time and the military to be in “pre-emptive attack” mode. Citing growing enemy threats, Kim Jong-un made his announcement on Friday a day after the UN approved its harshest sanctions crafted by the US against the impoverished nation, marking a further escalation of tension on the Korean peninsula.