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A US B-52 strategic bomber. Gen. Charles Brown of the US Pacific Air Forces announced on Nov. 26 that no bombers would be dispatched to the Korean Peninsula.

Top generals in the US Indo-Pacific Command, which oversees US Forces Korea (USFK), said they will not dispatch strategic bombers to the Korean Peninsula and that regimental drills will be held outside the Korean Peninsula. These announcements appear designed to emphasize support for the diplomatic process that is unfolding prior to North Korea and the US’s high-level talks and summit.

On Nov. 26, Gen. Charles Brown, commander of US Pacific Air Forces, announced that the US would stop flying bombers over the Korean Peninsula at the request of the South Korean government.

“As we're going through the diplomatic aspect, we don't want to actually do something that's going to derail the diplomatic negotiations. So that’s part of the reason why we’re not doing [flights] over Korea,” Brown told reporters on Monday. The bombers mentioned by Brown apparently refer to B-1, B-2 and B-52, which can be equipped with nuclear weapons.

South Korea’s Ministry of Defense also confirmed that no American strategic bombers have been deployed to the skies above the Korean Peninsula since North Korea fired its Hwasong-15 ICBM in Nov. 2017. When asked about remark that bomber flights had been paused at Seoul’s request, the South Korean Ministry explained that “such matters are not decided unilaterally by either side but through bilateral deliberations.”

During an interview by military publication Defense News, Gen. Robert Brown, the head of US Army Pacific Command, was asked how the army was offsetting the suspension of joint exercises with the South Korean military. “Battalion and below exercises on the peninsula is fine. [. . .] We’re doing the higher-level [regimental] exercises off the peninsula,” Brown said.

“We just did some in Hawaii, Joint Base Lewis-McChord and Washington state; even Alaska we worked some scenarios, and we invite the ROKs to that.”

By Yoo Kang-moon, senior staff writer

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