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US bombers drill near Korea DMZ in show of force
by Staff Writers
Seoul (AFP) July 8, 2017


Japan nuclear chief steps back from North Korea remarks
Tokyo (AFP) July 7, 2017 - Japan's chief atomic energy regulator has acknowledged it was inappropriate to say it would be "much better" if North Korea dropped a missile on Tokyo rather than on a nuclear plant.

Shunichi Tanaka, head of the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA), found himself in hot water on Thursday after he spoke to people living near a recently restarted reactor.

"If it were me, I think it would be much better to drop (a missile) on central Tokyo," said Tanaka.

He was speaking about a possible North Korean missile attack on a nuclear facility, having reportedly been asked by an audience member what measures were in place to deal with such a strike.

An NRA spokesman told AFP that Tanaka was quick to add that he was only joking.

But he later told reporters the comment was "inappropriate", the spokesman said Friday.

Tanaka had spoken in Fukui prefecture, some 350 kilometres (215 miles) west of Tokyo, where a nuclear reactor was restarted in May.

Japan shut down all of its dozens of reactors after a powerful earthquake in March 2011 spawned a huge tsunami that led to meltdowns at the Fukushima atomic plant, causing the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986.

Reactor restarts have been controversial among people living near nuclear plants concerned about safety after the Fukushima disaster.

His comments came after North Korea successfully tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile on Tuesday, which landed in the Sea of Japan.

Tanaka's gaffe followed remarks last month by a Japanese prefectural governor who said North Koreans should be "starved to death" if Pyongyang were to target his region with atomic weapons.

Masanori Tanimoto, governor of Ishikawa prefecture, which sits across the Sea of Japan from North Korea, retracted the remarks.

Municipalities across Japan have been conducting evacuation drills in response to a possible North Korean attack.

The North has previously launched multiple missiles that have fallen provocatively close to Japan.

US bombers carried out a rare live fire drill in South Korea Saturday, flying close to the DMZ in a show of force after Pyongyang's latest missile test, the South's defence ministry said.

The exercise by two B-1B Lancers, flown from Andersen Air Base in Guam, was part of a 10-hour mission with South Korean and Japanese fighter jets in response to a "series of increasingly escalatory actions by North Korea including the intercontinental ballistic missile" on Tuesday, US Pacific Air Forces said.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the long-range heavy bombers flew close to the tense and heavily militarised land border with the North before turning back.

The exercise aimed to "sternly respond to the series of North Korea's ballistic missile launches," the South's air force said in a statement.

Four US and South Korean jet fighters joined the live fire drill, which was conducted at a range in Yeongwol County, some 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of the inter-Korean border, the South's air force said.

The long-range heavy aircraft each dropped a 2,000-pound (900-kilogram) laser-guided bunker-busting smart bomb, Yonhap said.

The US statement said the B-1Bs released "inert" weapons at the Pilsung Range.

The drill simulated the two US bombers destroying enemy ballistic missile batteries and South Korean jets mounting precision strikes against underground enemy command posts, the South's air force said.

"Through this drill, the South Korean and US air forces demonstrated strong determination to thoroughly punish the enemy for its provocative acts, and showed off their capability to pulverise enemy command posts," it said.

Lieutenant General Thomas Bergeson, US Forces Korea deputy commander, said the mission demonstrated the allies remain "prepared to use the full range of capabilities to defend and to preserve the security of the Korean peninsula and region".

En route back to Guam, the B-1Bs flew and integrated with Japanese fighter jets over the East China Sea, US Pacific Air Forces said in a press statement.

"The US-Japan alliance and the relationship between our militaries are stronger than they have ever been," said Lieutenant General Jerry P. Martinez, US Forces Japan commander.

"We continue to train with our Japanese allies to ensure we are ready to defend ourselves from attack", he said.

North Korea on Tuesday test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time, an apparent game-changer in its confrontation with Washington over its nuclear and missile programmes.

In response, US and South Korean soldiers fired ballistic missiles simultaneously in a drill Wednesday, simulating an attack on the North's leadership "as a strong message of warning," the South's military said at the time.

The US Missile Defense Agency said Friday it would soon test an anti-ballistic missile system in Alaska, days after the North demonstrated its arsenal was capable of striking parts of Alaska with the ICBM test.

NUKEWARS
N.Korea says "piece of cake" to wipe out South: state media
Seoul (AFP) July 6, 2017
Pyongyang warned it would be a "piece of cake" to destroy "gangster" South Korea, state media reported Thursday, as it raged against Seoul for a joint missile drill with the US following its landmark intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test. The isolated, nuclear-armed North sent a chill through the international community Tuesday after its missile launch, a milestone in Pyongyang's d ... read more

Related Links
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com
Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com
All about missiles at SpaceWar.com
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com


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