Article Posted on : - Jul 26, 2010

A file photo of F-22 Raptors

SEOUL (BNS): Four F-22 Raptors, the world's most advanced stealth fighter jet, flew over South Korea for the first time even as a fleet of South Korean and US warships carried out massive anti-submarine exercises on Monday in a show of force to North Korea.

The United States and South Korea have gone ahead with the exercise despite North Korea’s threats of nuclear retaliation. About 20 ships, 200 aircraft and 8,000 military personnel from the two countries are participating in the four-day exercise, a Yonhap report said.

The drills are being conducted in international waters off Ulleung Island, about 120 kilometers east of the Korean Peninsula and far south of the North's waters, according to officials.

Monday's naval exercises were centered on anti-submarine warfare operations. "Today's exercises focus on better detecting intrusions by an enemy's submarines and attacking them," Col. Lee Bung-woo, a spokesman for the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), was quoted as saying.

The report also quoting Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Remington, commander of the US7th Air Force said, the employment of F-22 jets for the drills demonstrate Washington's strong commitment to deter and defeat any provocative acts that threaten the stability of the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia.

South Korea deployed its 14,000-ton Dokdo amphibious landing ship, 4,500-ton KDX-II-class destroyers, the 1,800-ton Son Won-il-class submarine and F-15K fighter jets for the drills.