North Korea slams B-1B bomber deployment, protracted standoff with U.S. appears likely

Home > National > North Korea

North Korea slams B-1B bomber deployment, protracted standoff with U.S. appears likely

Published: 17 Apr. 2025, 14:10 Updated: 17 Apr. 2025, 19:13

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Two U.S. B-1B bombers stage joint drills with South Korean and U.S. fighter jets over the Korean Peninsula on April 15. [NEWS1]

North Korea has condemned the recent deployment of U.S. B-1B strategic bombers to the South Korean Peninsula and threatened to demonstrate "overwhelming deterrence" in response.

The regime framed the presence of U.S. strategic assets as a structural and ongoing threat, signaling its intent to continue strengthening its nuclear forces.

The North’s response also appears linked to preparations for a long-term standoff with the United States, with U.S. President Donald Trump preoccupied with his tariff war and North Korea-U.S. dialogue being pushed down the priority list.

In a statement published by the Rodong Sinmun on Thursday, a spokesperson for North Korea’s Ministry of National Defense said the United States "has recently set a new record in openly deploying strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula, including nuclear submarines, strategic bombers and aircraft carriers.”

The statement said these deployments "are no longer emergency measures, but routine military practices, now a constant rather than a variable threat to the region’s security environment."

“The deployment of the U.S. strategic means on the Korean Peninsula has been fixed as a routine military practice, not as part of emergency measures, and is a constant, not a variable, threatening the regional security environment,” the statement added. “We will suppress the United States’ aggressive intentions to permanently destabilize the regional security environment with strong power.”

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an Easter prayer service and dinner in the Blue Room of the White House in Washington on April 16. [UPI/YONHAP]

Experts believe North Korea is using regular joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States as a pretext to shift blame for heightened tensions while justifying its continued nuclear weapons development.

“Amid growing uncertainty in North Korea-U.S. relations, Pyongyang will use the justification of strengthening its defensive deterrence capabilities to further develop its asymmetrical, pre-emptive, early-use nuclear strategy,” said Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies.

This stance may also reflect North Korea’s calculation that Trump, preoccupied with the global tariff war, cannot engage with North Korea for the time being.

As the Trump administration becomes increasingly absorbed in its trade conflict with China, the Korean Peninsula is likely to drop in its list of diplomatic priorities.

“North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is likely to take the position that he will not extend a hand until Trump places the North Korea issue higher on his political and economic agenda,” Lim added. “This appears to be some sort of ‘indirect delaying tactic’ for a protracted standoff and a move to secure the upper hand in future negotiations.”

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.

BY CHUNG YEONG-GYO, LEE YU-JUNG [[email protected]]