South Korea’s General Staff said the four short-range missiles fired from a western coastal area of ​​North Korea around noon flew about 130 kilometers (80 miles) toward the country’s western sea. The North has launched more than 30 missiles this week, including an intercontinental ballistic missile on Thursday that prompted evacuation alerts in northern Japan and flew a large number of warplanes into its territory in an angry reaction to a massive combined air exercise between the United States States and South Korea. South Korea’s military said two B-1B bombers trained with four U.S. F-16 fighter jets and four South Korean F-35 jets during the final day of the “Vigilant Storm” joint air force exercise that ends Saturday. It was the first time since December 2017 that the bombers were deployed to the Korean Peninsula. About 240 warplanes, including advanced F-35 fighter jets from both countries, took part in the exercise. North Korea’s foreign ministry late on Friday characterized the country’s military actions this week as an appropriate response to the exercise, which it called a display of US “hysteria of military confrontation”. It said North Korea would respond with the “hardest response” to any attempts by “hostile forces” to violate its sovereignty or security interests. South Korea’s General Staff said the B-1Bs’ participation in the joint exercises demonstrated the allies’ readiness to “sternly respond” to North Korea’s provocations and the US commitment to defend its ally with the full range of its military capabilities. , including nuclear. The B-1B airlifts have been a familiar show of force during previous periods of tension with North Korea, including the North’s provocative course of nuclear and long-range missile tests in 2017. But the airlifts had stalled in recent years as the United States and South Korea suspended large-scale drills to support the former Trump administration’s diplomatic efforts with North Korea and due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The story continues The allies resumed their large-scale training this year after North Korea stepped up its weapons tests at a record pace, using the rift in the UN Security Council over Russia’s war in Ukraine as a window to speed up weapons development. North Korea hates such close-range displays of American military might. The North continued to describe the B-1B as a “nuclear strategic bomber,” although the plane was converted to conventional weapons in the mid-1990s. Vigilant Storm was originally scheduled to end on Friday, but the allies decided to extend the training until Saturday in response to a series of North Korean ballistic launches on Thursday, including an ICBM that triggered evacuation alerts and halted trains in northern Japan. Thursday’s launches came after the North fired more than 20 missiles on Wednesday, the most in a single day. Those launches came after North Korean senior military official Park Yong-chon issued a veiled threat of nuclear conflict with the United States and South Korea over their joint drills, which the North says are rehearsals for a possible invasion. South Korea also on Friday scrambled about 80 military aircraft after monitoring about 180 flights by North Korean warplanes inside North Korean territory. The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korean warplanes were spotted in various areas inland and along the country’s east and west coasts, but did not come very close to the Korean border. The South Korean military detected about 180 flight tracks between 1:00 PM and 5:00 AM. In a statement Friday attributed to an unidentified spokesman, North Korea’s foreign ministry said the United States and South Korea had created a seriously “unstable atmosphere” in the region with their military exercises. He accused the United States of mobilizing its allies in a campaign using sanctions and military threats to pressure North Korea to unilaterally disarm. “Continued provocation is sure to be followed by continued counter-reaction,” the statement said. North Korea has launched dozens of ballistic missiles this year, including multiple ICBMs and an intermediate-range missile that flew over Japan. South Korean officials say there are signs that North Korea in the coming weeks could detonate its first nuclear test device since 2017. Experts say North Korea is trying to force the United States to accept it as a nuclear power and is seeking to negotiate economic and security concessions from a position of strength.