The US carried out a show-of-force flight of bombers and fighter jets ahead of fresh threats from North Korea on Saturday.

According to the US military, US Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers escorted by F-15C fighter jets flew in international airspace off North Korea’s eastern coast in a show of force on Saturday, ahead of North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho’s address to the UN General Assembly.

“This is the farthest north of the Demilitarized Zone any US fighter or bomber aircraft have flown off North Korea’s coast in the 21st century, underscoring the seriousness with which we take (North Korea’s) reckless behavior,” Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in a statement.
 

The bombers were from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam and the fighter jets were from Kadena Air Force Base on Okinawa. The mission is clear message that the US has many military options to defeat any threat from North Korea, the statement said.

“We are prepared to use the full range of military capabilities to defend the US homeland and our allies,” it added.

As for Ri, he threatened the US with “merciless preventive action” if the US shows any sign of “decapitating operation on our headquarters or military attack against our country,” in addressing the UN General Assembly.

He called Trump a “mentally deranged person full of megalomania and complaisance.”

“None other than Trump himself is on a suicide mission. In case innocent lives of the US are harmed because of this suicide attack, Trump will be held totally responsible.”

In his address to the UN on Tuesday, Trump said the US will “totally destroy” North Korea if the US was forced to defend itself or its allies against a North Korean attack.

The North Korean leader responded saying Trump would ”pay dearly” for the threat and Ri told reporters Friday that it could conduct the most powerful detonation of an H-bomb in the Pacific.

The top diplomat of Pyongyang rejected the latest UN sanctions over its sixth nuclear test as “unjustifiable.”

Trump holding the nuclear button is the “gravest threat to international peace” and North Korea was left with no other choice but to respond with the “nuclear hammer of justice,” he added.

“Through such a prolonged and arduous struggle, now we are finally only a few steps away from the final gate of completion of the state nuclear force,” Ri said.

He said the North’s ultimate goal is to establish the balance of power with the US.

“Our national nuclear force is a war deterrent for putting an end to the nuclear threat of the US and for preventing its military invasion,” he said.

For its part, the US has reiterated that military action against North Korea remains a possibility.

In an interview with ABC, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that Trump will take “appropriate” action against any North Korean provocations.

“We will continue our efforts in the diplomatic arena, but all of our military options -- as the president has said -- is on the table,” Tillerson said.

“And once we can assess the nature of this threat, the president will make a decision regarding the appropriate actions.”

US shows off military might amid escalating war of words

From news reports (Yonhap)