US Jets To South Korea: North Korea Says It Has Entered ‘State Of War’

The U.S. sent two jets to South Korea on Sunday to help bolster the country against mounting threats from the North.

The two stealth jets were deployed from Japan's Kadena air force base and sent to Osan Air Base, the main U.S. Air Force Base in South Korea. U.S. military command in South Korea announced the deployment of the two F-22 stealth fighter jets on Sunday, MSNBC reports.

The move follows a statement made on Saturday by North Korean officials over KCNA, the country's official news agency, that it is entering a "state of war" with South Korea. Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea and Kim Jung Un's seat of power, has also condemned the military drills between the U.S. and South Korea as "hostile," and called U.S. military bases in Japan targets as well.

In the wake of mounting threats from North Korea, including a declaration that the 1953 armistice, which ended the Korean War, is null and void, and threatening nuclear war with the U.S. and South Korea, South Korea and the U.S. are moving forward with their joint military effort to protect Seoul from attack by Kim Jung Un's forces.

"If there is any provocation against South Korea and its people there should be a strong response in initial combat without any political considerations," said South Korean President Park Geun-hye, at a meeting on Monday.

At the same time, the Pentagon said recent threats coming from Pyongyang are part of a "familiar pattern."

CNN reports that Caitlin Hayden, a spokesperson for the security council, said: "North Korea has a long history of bellicose rhetoric and threats," and that its bearish remarks over the weekend are par for the course.

Even Pope Francis has addressed the escalating tension in the Pacific. MSNBC reports that in his first Easter Sunday address, the Bishop of Rome called for a diplomatic solution to the snafu on the Korean peninsula.

"Peace in Asia, above all on the Korean peninsula: may disagreements be overcome and a renewed spirit of reconciliation grow," he said in Italian.

U.S. and South Korean officials still hope to convince Kim Jung Un to forgo his country's nuclear weapons program through sanction and diplomacy. According to the New York Times, North Korea is trying to force the U.S. back to the negotiating table through its threats of nuclear attack.

Source: By Philip Ross (www.isciencetimes.com) on April 1, 2013

Photo: The U.S. sent two F-22 stealth jets to South Korea on Sunday amid growing provocations from North Korea. The F-22 jets are designed to avoid radar detection and to control enemy airspace. (Photo: Creative Commons)



(4.04.2016)