US air force B-2 stealth bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons conducted their first-ever firing drill in the Republic of Korea, the Combined Forces Command said on Thursday.

An official at the command confirmed by phone that two B-2 Spirit Bombers were sent from Whiteman Air Force Base in the US state of Missouri to the Korean Peninsula to carry out a firing drill as a warning to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which has threatened a nuclear attack on the United States and the ROK.

The drill came as part of the two-month field training exercise "Foal Eagle" that involves 10,000 US troops and 200,000 ROK soldiers. The joint military drill, launched on March 1, will run through April 30 to test the combat readiness of US and ROK forces.

"As the B-2 has a radar-evading stealth function, it can penetrate the anti-aircraft defenses to drop conventional and nuclear weapons," the ROK's Yonhap News Agency quoted a senior military official as saying.

In addition to the B-2 stealth bombers, the US forces deployed other nuclear-capable weapons during this year's joint military drill. Those include B-22 bombers and the submarine USS Cheyenne, both of which can carry nuclear weapons.

Tension raised

The two B-2s flew the 20,800-kilometer round-trip in a "single continuous mission", dropping dummy ordnance on a target range in the ROK, the US military said in a statement.

"This ... demonstrates the US' ability to conduct long-range, precision strikes quickly and at will," the statement said.

"The US is steadfast in its alliance commitment to the defense of the Republic of Korea," the statement said.

Earlier on Thursday, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told his ROK counterpart that Seoul could rely on all the military protection the US has to offer - nuclear, conventional and missile defense.

The deployment of B-2 bombers came shortly after the DPRK severed its last-remaining military hotline with the ROK and put its rocket units on combat status with a threat to target US bases in the Pacific region.

The DPRK has severed the hotline before, most recently in March 2009. In that case the line was reconnected less than two weeks later.

Several weeks ago the DPRK cut a Red Cross hotline that had been used for government-to-government communications.

The military hotline was used on a daily basis to organize movement in and out of the Kaesong industrial complex - a joint venture established in 2004.

The ROK used the line to give the DPRK the names of those seeking entry to Kaesong, guaranteeing their safety as they crossed one of the world's most heavily militarized borders.

The US and ROK militaries signed a new pact last week, providing for a joint military response to even low-level provocation by the DPRK.

Yonhap also quoted a Seoul military official as saying Washington had recently approved the sale of US "bunker buster" bombs to the ROK - capable of targeting the DPRK's extensive underground military facilities.

The use of the stealth bombers is sure to prompt a fresh outcry from the DPRK, which has already denounced the use of US B-52 bombers in the joint exercises.

The drills are held annually and are regularly condemned by the DPRK as provocative rehearsals for an invasion.

Xinhua-AFP

(China Daily 03/29/2013 page11)