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Minot AFB B-52 conducts overflight in South Korea

MINOT AIR FORCE BASE In response to North Korea’s claim of a recent nuclear test, a Minot Air Force Base B-52 bomber conducted a low-level flight on Sunday in the vicinity of Osan, South Korea.

Minot Air Force Base officials confirmed the plane involved in the flight was from the local base. The plane and aircrew are on a deployment with other personnel and planes from the Minot base to Andersen AFB in Guam.

For the flight over South Korea, the plane was flanked by South Korean F-15 fighter aircraft and U.S. F-16 fighter aircraft, U.S. Pacific Command officials said in a news release issued Sunday.

“This was a demonstration of the ironclad U.S. commitment to our allies in South Korea, in Japan and to the defense of the American homeland,” said Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., commander of Pacific Air Command, with headquarters in Hawaii.

“North Korea’s nuclear test is a blatant violation of its international obligations. U.S. joint military forces in the Indo-Asia-Pacific will continue to work with all of our regional allies and partners to maintain stability and security,” Harris said.

The bilateral flight mission demonstrated the strength of the alliance between the U.S. and South Korea and the resolve of both nations to maintain stability and security on the Korean Peninsula, the release said.

Upon completion of the flight over South Korea, the B-52 returned to Guam, Pacific Air Command officials said.

The B-52s at Minot AFB and Barksdale AFB, La., are part of U.S. Pacific Command’s Continuous Bomber Presence in the Western Pacific. The CBP is done to demonstrate the U.S.’s continued commitment to stability and security in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. Squadrons from both U.S. B-52 bases rotate deployments to Guam. The CBP has been ongoing since March 2004.

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