South Korea has also announced that an 8-day-air force drill with the US will begin Friday. The commander of US Forces in South Korea, Walter Sharp said the US and its allies are ready to deter any DPRK aggression.

 

Walter Sharp, US Forces in South Korea Commander, said, "Koreans and Americans along with other nations of the United Nations Command remain ready to deter any North Korean aggression. And if the deterrence fails, we will fight and win."

The drill is to be held in the air space over the western part of the Peninsula. 50 planes and more than two hundred pilots from South Korea and the US will take part. Air force models like the F-16 from the US will be involved. South Korean media has quoted air force officials as saying this drill will focus on "deterrence of an air strike from the DPRK".

On Thursday, South Korea wrapped up naval drills with the US, Australia and Japan aimed at what it called the intercepting of illicit weapons shipments.

In South Korea's eastern waters near Busan, two of its own destroyers and two from Japan's Self Defense Forces, and one Zeus Shield battle ship from the US took part in the joint drill. South Korea says this is a routine drill carried out between participants of the Proliferation Security Initiative.