North Korea Issues Threat Over U.S. Bomber Deployment

North Korea issued a warning to the United States on Thursday in response to a joint military drill conducted Tuesday between U.S. and South Korean forces. The exercise involved two U.S. B-1B bombers flying over the Korean Peninsula alongside F-16 jets and other aircraft from the South Korean Air Force.

In a statement released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), a spokesperson for North Korea’s Ministry of National Defense accused the United States of “openly deploying nuclear submarines, strategic bombers, aircraft carriers, and other strategic assets” to the Korean Peninsula. The statement claimed such deployments are now a routine part of U.S. military posture in the region, rather than being conducted on an emergency basis.

The North Korean government further stated that the deployment of strategic bombers during President Donald Trump’s administration was intended as a warning to North Korea in response to its expanding nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities.

The statement concluded with a stern warning: “North Korea will never tolerate even the slightest sign of a threat by hostile forces against the security and sovereignty of the state, and will deter, by means of powerful force, the U.S. aggressive attempt to permanently fix malignant instability into the region's security environment.”

During his first term in office, President Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un three times, including a historic moment when Trump crossed the demilitarized zone and became the first sitting U.S. president to set foot in North Korea.

While the Trump administration has maintained its position in favor of the complete denuclearization of North Korea, recent developments—such as the growing alignment between Pyongyang and Moscow, and the signing of a defense pact between the two last year—have dramatically shifted the diplomatic landscape. As a result, the likelihood of restarting negotiations over North Korea’s nuclear program appears more remote than it was during Trump’s first term.