WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon is drawing attention to its use of Air Force B-52 bombers in a military exercise in South Korea.
The bomber flights are meant to highlight the U.S.’s commitment to the defense of South Korea at a time of heightened tension with North Korea, which last month defied the international community by conducting a nuclear test. Earlier this month it threatened to launch a pre-emptive attack on the United States.
Pentagon press secretary George Little said Monday that a B-52 flew a mission over South Korea on March 8 as part of an annual exercise called Foal Eagle. Little said the B-52 was not armed with nuclear weapons.
The deputy U.S. defense secretary, Ashton Carter, said Monday in Seoul that another B-52 mission is scheduled for Tuesday.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
