U.S. Fighter Jets Buzz Border with N.Korea

Four U.S. F-35B stealth fighter jets and two B-1B strategic bombers buzzed the aerial border with North Korea in a show of force on Monday amid colorful rhetoric from U.S. President Donald Trump.

The jets carried out a live-fire drill at a firing range in Taebaek, Gangwon Province, a military spokesman here said Monday.

The B-1B bombers dropped a conventional MK-84 bomb each and the F-35Bs an inert GBU-32 joint direct attack munition (JDAM). South Korean F-15K fighter jets dropped two inert MK-82 bombs.

The joint show of force came after North Korea fired another mid-range ballistic missile over Japan last week.

At an event marking the F-35's 70th anniversary on Friday, Trump said, "Now, when our enemies hear the F-35 engines, when they're roaring overhead, their souls will tremble, and they'll know a day of reckoning is alive."

Defense Ministry officials here also told the National Assembly Defense Committee that a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group will participate in a joint drill in the Korean waters next month.

"It's unclear yet which U.S. aircraft carrier is coming -- the USS Ronald Reagan in Yokosuka, Japan or the USS Carl Vinson at the U.S. west coast," a government source here said.