SEOUL — Two US supersonic bombers flew over the Korean Peninsula for bombing exercises that are also a show of force against North Korea ahead of President Trump’s first official visit to Asia.
A South Korean military official said Friday the B-1B bombers based in Guam were escorted by two South Korean F-16 fighter jets during the drills Thursday at a field near the South’s eastern coast.
The drills simulated attacks on land targets, but didn’t involve live weapons, said the official, who did not want to be named, citing office rules.
North Korea’s state media denounced the exercise as a ‘‘surprise nuclear strike drill’’ and says ‘‘gangster-like US imperialists’’ are seeking to ignite a nuclear war.
The nuclear issue is expected to dominate Trump’s trip to Asia, which starts Sunday in Japan and will include stops in South Korea, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
In recent months, North Korea has tested intercontinental ballistic missiles that could reach the US mainland with further development and has conducted its most powerful nuclear test. It also flew powerful new midrange missiles over Japan and threatened to launch them toward Guam, the US Pacific territory and military hub.
The United States has responded by sending its strategic assets to the region more frequently for patrols or drills.
That has angered North Korea, whose foreign minister said in September the North had ‘‘every right’’ to take countermeasures, including shooting down the US warplanes, though many experts doubt it has the actual intent or ability to do so.
Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency said Friday that the ‘‘US imperialist warmongers’’ should not act rashly.
‘‘The US imperialists are making last-ditch efforts to check the dynamic advance of the DPRK by deploying their nuclear strategic assets in succession, but its army and people are never frightened at such moves,’’ the report said, referring to North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
In a separate development, 48 percent of respondents to a survey for the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun survey said the international community should place importance on ‘‘dialogue’’ in dealing with North Korea, exceeding the 41 percent who said ‘‘pressure’’ should be applied on the country.
The poll was coducted after the inauguration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his fourth Cabinet.
Associated Press
