US Flies Nuclear-Capable Bombers as Tensions Soar with N. Korea

Facts

• The US on Wednesday flew nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to the Korean Peninsula for the first time in a month as it tried to send a message to North Korea amid mounting concerns about Pyongyang’s nuclear capabilities.¹
• South Korea's defense ministry stated that the US long-range bombers took part in joint aerial drills with US and South Korean fighter jets intended to show the "strong resolve" of their alliance as well as its readiness.²
• The US also deployed the nuclear-powered USS Nimitz aircraft carrier for joint naval training with South Korea last week and US-South Korea-Japan anti-submarine drills this week.³
• This comes as Seoul and Washington have been conducting several war games since last month — including their first large-scale amphibious landing drills in five years. Pyongyang characterizes the drills as a rehearsal for war.⁴
• The North has ramped up its military activity in recent weeks, disclosing smaller nuclear warheads and pledging to produce more weapons-grade nuclear material while testing a nuclear-capable underwater attack drone.⁴
• South Korea's Pres. Yoon Suk-yeol on Wednesday reiterated the importance of security collaboration with the US and Japan to restore the “three-axis system,” which refers to the South’s response plan to intercept and destroy the North’s nuclear weapons and missiles and destroy key facilities such as its command.⁵

Sources: ¹Al Jazeera, ²ABC News, ³Associated Press, ⁴Reuters, and ⁵Korea Herald.

Narratives

• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by KCNA Watch. The US and its war-mongering allies continue to provoke North Korea by performing acts of intimidation and simulating war on a grand scale. Western media lies and calls these military operations defensive, but in reality, the US and its puppet states are loading the Korean peninsula with weapons of war and rehearsing their attack on the North. The North does not want war, but this provocation cannot persist.
• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by VOA. North Korea is unleashing its largest propaganda campaign in years as it threatens the US and its allies. The country’s state media is doing all it can to recruit young men to join its military as it works to bolster its nuclear arsenal. War-time rhetoric is emanating from the North, and the US must focus on deterring an attack.

Predictions