South Korea, US to begin 2-week combined air drills next week

South Korea and the US plan to kick off regular combined air force drills next week, in yet another move to highlight their defence posture especially against North Korea's evolving missile threats, informed sources said on Tuesday.

The allies are set to begin the two-week Korea Flying Training on May 9, the eve of the inauguration of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, who has vowed to bolster the Seoul-Washington security alliance under his slogan of "peace through strength".

"The two air forces plan to begin the two-week training on the same scale as the past trainings," one of the sources told Yonhap News Agency.

The source stopped short of giving details including specific air assets to be mobilised.

The upcoming training is a scaled-back version of the large-scale Max Thunder exercise that the two countries staged in the past with the massive mobilisation of their air assets and service members.

South Korea and the US have recently stepped up their security coordination in the wake of North Korea's missile launches, including its test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile on March 24.

--IANS

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