U.S. flies B-52 bomber over South Korea

The B-52 Bomber conducted a low fly pass just four minutes south of the border amid growing tensions between the U.S. and North Korea.

The South’s special envoy on North Korea will meet in Seoul with his USA and Japanese counterparts the same day.

SEOUL – US forces in South Korea were put on their highest level of alert on Monday in case of any provocation from North Korea, following North Korea’s nuclear test last week.

On January 10, the Stratofortress flew non-stop from Andersen Air Force Base on the island of Guam approximately 1,900 miles to perform a flyover of Osan Air Force Base in South Korea. Seoul can’t stand down easily, some analysts say, and it’s highly unlikely that the North will express regret for its nuclear test, which is a source of intense national pride.

“The United States and South Korea are continuously and closely having discussions on additional deployment of strategic assets”, said Kim Min-seok, a spokesman at the South Korean Defense Ministry, declining to give specifics.

North Korea’s test on Wednesday angered both the United States and China, which was not given prior notice, though the USA government and weapons experts doubt the North’s claim that the device it set off was a hydrogen bomb.

China has implemented a round-the-clock radiation monitoring system on the country’s border with North Korea after Pyongyang claimed last week to have tested a hydrogen bomb.

The B-52 returned to Guam upon completion of the flight over South Korea.

South Korea and the US are spurring global efforts to slap a fresh batch of crippling sanctions on North Korea following the communist nation’s fourth atomic experiment, ratcheting up pressure to extract China’s endorsement while crafting separate punishments at home and with close partners.

In retaliation for the nuclear test, South Korea’s military restarted blasting anti-DPRK propaganda messages from speakers at Friday noon across the border into the DPRK, which had called it an ” act of declaring war”. “Almost all of its socioeconomic activities will be paralyzed, from the transportation sector to the military sector; inflation will rise; prices will soar; social anxiety will cause riots; and North Korean society will face a collapse”.

North Korea considers the South Korean broadcasts tantamount to an act of war.

Seoul is taking measures to protect its citizens north of the Korean demilitarized zone in Kaesong, where about 800 South Koreans are located in an industrial park that employs North Korean factory workers.

Kim praised the scientists, technicians and workers for contributing to what North Korea maintains was its first successful test of a hydrogen bomb, state media reported on Monday.

The U.S. could send bombers, submarines and figher jets to South Korea with the stated goal of deterring the North from further “provocations”.