MILITARY/NORTH KOREA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Two U.S. B-1B bombers flew near North Korea on Thursday [11-2-17], alongside Japanese and South Korean jet fighters, provoking anger from Pyongyang ahead of President Donald Trump’s closely watched trip to Asia.
The flyover, which U.S. Pacific Command said in a statement was planned in advance and not in response to any current event, comes as the U.S. operates three aircraft carriers in the Western Pacific for the first time in a decade.
North Korea state media reported on the B-1B flyover, which it described as a stealth mission, before the U.S. military publicly acknowledged the mission. In the account published early Friday, it said the exercise included a bombing drill on a firing range in South Korea that was meant to simulate a nuclear strike on the North. It said the mission showed it was the U.S. that is ‘aggravating the situation of the Korean Peninsula and seeking to ignite a nuclear war.’
Pyongyang took particular offense to the drill taking place as three carrier strike groups—attached to the USS Ronald Reagan, the USS Theodore Roosevelt and the USS Nimitz—are scheduled to travel to waters near the Korean Peninsula.
The U.S. Pacific Command didn’t respond to a request for comment on the timing of the announcement, or on the inclusion of a bombing drill. Mr. Trump is set to arrive in Japan on Sunday, before heading to South Korea on Tuesday.”
-Jonathan Cheng, “U.S. Bombers Buzz North Korea as Trump’s Asia Trip Looms,” The Wall Street Journal online, Nov. 2, 2017 10:04pm