On February 20, 2025, the South Korean Ministry of National Defense announced that South Korea and the United States conducted a joint air exercise over the Korean Peninsula (referred to as the Korean Peninsula by South Korea), with the U.S. Air Force deploying B-1B strategic bombers.
According to reports from South Korean media, this marks the first time B-1B bombers have flown over the Korean Peninsula since the new U.S. administration took office, participating in this year’s first joint air exercise between South Korea and the United States. It has been 36 days since the B-1B bombers entered the vicinity of the Korean Peninsula following the trilateral military exercise between South Korea, the U.S., and Japan on January 15.
The South Korean Air Force’s F-35A stealth fighters, F-15K fighters, as well as U.S. F-16 fighters also took part in this exercise.
The South Korean Ministry of National Defense stated that the purpose of this exercise is to demonstrate the extended deterrence capabilities of the United States in response to North Korea’s increasing nuclear threats and to enhance the interoperability of South Korea-U.S. joint forces. Both South Korea and the United States will continue to expand the scale of joint exercises, strengthen cooperation within the South Korea-U.S. alliance to deter and counter North Korea’s threats.
The B-1B strategic bomber has a maximum speed of 1.25 Mach (1,530 kilometers per hour) and a maximum range of 12,000 kilometers. It only takes 2 hours to fly from the U.S. base in Guam to the Korean Peninsula, making it one of the core strategic assets for extended deterrence by South Korea and the United States. While the B-1B does not carry nuclear weapons, it can carry up to 57 tons of weapons, far exceeding other strategic bombers in the U.S. military such as the B-2 (22 tons) and B-52 (31 tons).