Korea, US begin combined air force drills involving F-35A stealth fighters
An F-35A stealth fighter / Yonhap
South Korea and the United States kicked off their regular air force drills Monday that this time involve F-35A radar-evading fighters and other key assets, sources here said.
The two-week Korea Flying Training came on the eve of the inauguration of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, who has vowed to strengthen the alliance to counter North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile threats.
The mobilization of the F-35A warplane appears to be the allies' show of force against the North, following its launches of what was thought to be a long-range ballistic missile last Wednesday and an apparent submarine-launched ballistic missile three days later.
The size of this year's exercises are similar to those of previous years, the sources said.
The training is a scaled-back version of the large-scale Max Thunder exercise that the two countries staged in the past with the massive mobilization of their air assets and service members. (Yonhap)