Several US bombers flew over waters between Korea and Japan on Monday in a show of force, it was revealed Wednesday.

The US military’s deployment of four B-1B Lancers and two B-2 Spirit Stealth Bombers to the region came just a day before South Korea and the US kicked off their annual joint military drills Tuesday.

Scheduled to run through Aug. 28 this year, the drills are held annually to deter North Korea’s aggression, but are now scaled down, without key US-based troops, due to coronavirus concerns.

In a clear show of force against North Korea and its main supporter, China, the Lancers reportedly flew from Andersen Air Force Base on Guam and Dyess Air Force Base in Texas, joined by the Spirits traveling from Diego Garcia Air Base in the Indian Ocean.

“These missions show the ability of US Air Force Global Strike Command to deliver lethal, ready, long-range strike options to Geographic Combatant Commanders anytime, anywhere,” the US Pacific Air Forces said.

The August drills carry exceptional weight this year because Seoul hoped to test stage two of a three-phase plan to take over wartime operational control from Washington, for the first time since the 1950-53 Korean War.

But Seoul’s plans went awry as US reserve forces who play a key part in testing the process had to skip the drills over coronavirus worries.

If the program had gone as planned, Seoul and Washington would have tested stage two this month and would complete the final stage in 2021, to wrap up the program by 2022 as President Moon Jae-in previously pledged to do before he leaves office in May that year.

Still, experts are skeptical as to whether Seoul will be ready to take over the wartime role from Washington in 2022, citing a lack of reconnaissance capability. 

Seoul, which launched its first military communication satellite into space in late July and plans to make more intelligence satellites by 2024, relies heavily on Washington for North Korea intelligence gathered from its spy satellites. 

By Choi Si-young (siyoungchoi@heraldcorp.com)