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Soul — USA The Air Force F-35A stealth fighter arrives in South Korea on Tuesday on its first publicly announced visit since 2017 as its allies and nuclear-armed North Korea are engaged in an escalating cycle of weapons exhibits. did.
Joint military exercises have been publicly reduced in recent years, first in 2018 due to efforts for diplomatic involvement with North Korea, and then due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
South Korea's President Yun Suk-yul, who took office in May, will increase the disclosure of alliance forces, including exercises, to counter the record number of missile tests conducted by North Korea this year. Aimed at that.
North Korea also seems to be preparing to test its nuclear weapons for the first time since 2017.
The six F-35A will stay in South Korea for 10 days. , The South Korean Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
"The purpose of this deployment is to show the strong deterrence and joint defense of the US-ROK alliance, while at the same time improving the interoperability between South Korea and the US Air Force," the ministry said. .. In Korea with the initials of its official name.
The USFK (USFK) said in a statement that an aircraft deployed from Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska.
A U.S. Forces Korea spokesperson said it was the first public deployment of a fifth-generation fighter in South Korea since December 2017, but whether there was an unannounced visit I didn't elaborate.
A former U.S. official told Reuters earlier that much training was actually continued during diplomatic negotiations but was not announced.
South Korea has purchased 40 of its F-35A from the United States and is about to buy another 20. The F-35A of the South Korean Air Force said USFK, one of the aircraft participating in the joint training.
North Korea has accused joint exercises and South Korea's arms purchases as an example of a "hostile policy" that proves that the US offer to negotiate without preconditions is empty. (Report by Josh Smith, additional report by Soo-hyang Choi, edited by Robert Birsel)
