News / Military

US B-52 bomber flies over S Korea to show force against North

Sunday, 10 January 2016 4:20 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 10 January 2016 8:12 AM ]

This May 26, 2010 US Air Force file photo shows a B-52 Stratofortress during testing of the X-51A WaveRider.

A powerful US long-range heavy bomber has flown over South Korea as an indication of power from the United States following North Korea’s fourth nuclear test.

US B-52 Stratofortress flew over South Korea on Sunday a few days after North Korea allegedly carried out its first hydrogen bomb test on Wednesday.

The bomber capable of carrying nuclear weapons briefly flew over the Osan Air Base, located some 72 kilometers (45 miles) south of Seoul, according to the US military and an eye-witness.

The aircraft, which circled once over the airbase before heading home, can be seen as a threat by North Korea.

The B-52 bomber has been used in joint annual US-South Korea military exercises which enraged Pyongyang, however, their flights over South Korea are hardly ever publicized.

It was in 2013 when such a flight was last made public and it happened after North Korea conducted its third nuclear test.

Following the test, the US sent both a B-52 and the more sophisticated B-2 stealth bomber to South Korea to display its military power against North Korea.

On Wednesday, Pyongyang said it successfully conducted a hydrogen bomb test, hours after seismologists detected an artificial earthquake close to the country's main atomic test site northeast of North Korea.

North Korea's first hydrogen bomb test, seen here on TV, has drawn strong reactions from its allies including China. (AFP Photo)

North Korea's state news agency said in a statement that Pyongyang would continue to build up its nuclear program as deterrence against potential aggression from the United States.

American military experts accused North Korean officials of exaggerating their claims of successfully detonating the nation's first hydrogen bomb.

Kenneth W. Ford, an American physicist who worked on the first American hydrogen bomb, told the New York Times on Thursday that, compared to American H-bombs, the alleged North Korean bomb created too small of an earthquake.

Following the test, Secretary of State John Kerry said that the US military will closely watch the North.

Kerry also asked China to put an end to "business as usual" with North Korea. "Now China had a particular approach that it wanted to make and we agreed and respected to give them the space to be able to implement that, but today in my conversation with the Chinese I made it very clear, that has not worked and we cannot continue business as usual."

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