North Korea Warned-U.S. Flies Stealth Bombers Over Peninsula in Show of Might

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In Pic :A U.S. Air Force B-2 stealth bomber flew near Osan U.S. Air Base, south of Seoul, on Thursday in a display of force aimed at deterring North Korean threats of attacks on the U.S. and South Korea.

Two B-2 stealth bombers flew from a base in the American heartland, dropped test charges on targets near North Korea and returned to the U.S. on Thursday, as Washington mounted its most overt display of military force amid months of escalating tensions with North Korea.

The B-2s, the most advanced heavy bombers in the U.S. arsenal, flew low over the South Korean city of Osan before dropping eight dummy munitions on a South Korean bombing range as part of annual joint exercises with South Korea’s military. The dummies were inert versions of 2,000-pound bombs, one of the bigger conventional weapons in the U.S. arsenal. The B-2 can also carry nuclear payloads.

The maneuvers illustrated the growing concern inside the Obama administration that North Korea and its 30-year-old leader, Kim Jong Eun, may move beyond threats that have been commonplace against the U.S., South Korea and other allies in Asia. The fear is that Mr. Kim will continue with a string of military provocations that run the risk of sparking a major security crisis in Northeast Asia.

In North Korea, Mr. Kim ordered rockets to be on standby to strike U.S. bases in South Korea and the Pacific, as well as the U.S. mainland, state media reported. The order came after Mr. Kim and senior military officials held an emergency meeting in the early hours Friday, according North Korea’s official KCNA agency.

The B-2 flights were “an ultimatum that [the U.S.] will ignite a nuclear war at any cost on the Korean Peninsula,” Mr. Kim said at the meeting. KCNA said the leader “said he has judged the time has come to settle accounts with the U.S. imperialists in view of the prevailing situation.”

U.S. officials said President Obama approved Thursday’s deployment of the stealth bombers, which could be seen flying over the peninsula and whose mission was confirmed by U.S. military officials in the U.S. and South Korea. His decision, they said, came after their use was reviewed by top national security officials on a recommendation from Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

South Korean officials had asked for such a demonstration of U.S. “extended deterrence”—a military term used for nuclear force, defense officials said.

The advanced bombers’ training run from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri was the first such mission over South Korea to have been made public by the U.S. It was also the first time the craft have flown a round trip from U.S. to the Korean peninsula for such an exercise. It followed similar missions earlier this month by B-52 bombers during the annual U.S.-South Korean war games.

The flights were aimed at establishing clear military limits for Mr. Kim and his generals, senior U.S. officials said, at a time when they have shown an increasing willingness to challenge American military power in Asia.

The Pentagon struggled over the decision to deploy the bombers as part of the war games, called Foal Eagle, according to U.S. officials.

Some U.S. officials argued that the bomber flights would be unduly provocative and akin to recent North Korean actions, which these officials said have irresponsibly ratcheted up tensions. Defense officials acknowledged that North Korean military officers are particularly agitated by bomber flights because of memories of the destruction wrought from the air during the Korean War.

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