United States flies stealth jets over South Korea

The US Raptors, one of the world’s most advanced military aircraft, were flown into South Korea from their base in Okinawa in Japan.

President Park Geun-hye, in addressing Parliament to defend the closure of a jointly run factory park in North Korea, said South Korea will take unspecified “stronger and more effective” measures to make North Korea realize its nuclear ambitions will result only in accelerating its “regime collapse”.

North Korea on Tuesday commemorated the 74th birth anniversary of former leader Kim Jong-il who is credited with providing momentum to the country’s controversial nuclear weapons programme.

A video grab taken on February 7, 2016 from South Korean TV shows the news report on the launch of a long-range rocket by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), in Seoul, South Korea.

Last month, the United States sent a powerful nuclear-capable B-52 bomber to South Korea following North Korea’s fourth nuclear test.

It will not happen any more like in the past that South Korea yields to North Korea’s provocations and provide unconditional aid to it, Park said.

However, Wang said a United Nations resolution against North Korea must include a condition to resume long-stalled six-party talks on the North’s nuclear weapons program.

Foreign analysts say the North’s rocket launch and nuclear test put the country further along it its quest for a nuclear-armed missile that could reach the USA mainland.

She called for support for her government amid a divide in South Korea about its tough response. The launch triggered global condemnation, with Seoul, Washington and others pushing hard to have Pyongyang slapped with strong sanctions.

South Korean companies had paid wages for DPRK workers in Kaesong in US dollars to the DPRK government, which in turn had paid them wages in the DPRK currency or store vouchers, according to the Unification Ministry.

Pyongyang responded a day later by shutting down the last symbol of inter-Korean economic cooperation, expelling all of South Korean workers from there and freezing assets in Kaesong, while cutting off major communication hotlines between the two sides.

The move comes as the US and South Korea discuss possibly deploying a missile defence system in the South.

The deployment of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, is opposed by North Korea, China and Russian Federation. The flyover comes weeks before the two allies are set to kick of their annual joint military drills.

The official added that the upcoming Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises in March and April would aim to improve such capabilities.