[Courtesy of U.S Airforce]
After deploying a B-52 bomber on a low-level flight over its ally South Korea on Sunday in a show of force, The United States is preparing to send further strategic assets to the Korean peninsula in response to North Korea’s nuclear test last week.
"The United States and South Korea are continuously and closely having discussions on an additional deployment of strategic assets," Kim Min-seok, spokesman at the South Korean defence ministry, said on Monday.
The United States is considering sending a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to waters off the Korean peninsula next month to join a naval exercise with Seoul, Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday without identifying a source.
On Sunday, The massive B-52, based in Guam and capable of carrying nuclear weapons, was seen to flying over Osan Air Base, south of Seoul and 77 km (48 miles) from the Demilitarized that separates the two Koreas.
In Washington, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said on Sunday the flight underscored to South Korea "the deep and enduring alliance that we have with them."
"Last night was a step toward reassurance in that regard and that was important," McDonough said on CNN's "State of the Union."
He said the United States would continue to work with China and Russia, as well as allies Japan and South Korea, to isolate the North until it lives up to its commitments to get rid of its nuclear weapons.
"Until they do it they'll remain where they are, which is an outcast unable to provide for their own people," McDonough said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, during a visit to the country's Ministry of the People's Armed Forces on Sunday, said last week’s nuclear test was a self-defensive step against a U.S. threat of nuclear war.
North Korea’s state media quoted Kim as saying no one had the right to criticize the North's nuclear tests.
"It is the legitimate right of a sovereign state and a fair action that nobody can criticize," he said.
Since Friday, South Korea has conducted loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts across the border into the North. .
By Alex Lee
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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