UPDATE - US, South Korea hold air drills to 'display extended deterrence capabilities' against North

UPDATES WITH STATEMENT FROM SOUTH KOREA, NATO MILITARY CHIEFS, REVISES DECK

By Berk Kutay Gokmen and Saadet Gokce

ISTANBUL (AA) - South Korea on Thursday held joint military air drills with the US to deter North Korean military threats, according to Seoul’s Defense Ministry.

The military exercise between the two allies marked the first joint air drill since President Donald Trump’s inauguration last month, involving at least one B-1B bomber, several South Korean F-35A and F-15K fighter jets, and US F-16 fighter jets.

"The training was conducted to display the US extended deterrence capabilities against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats and bolster interoperability of South Korea-US combined forces," said the South Korean Defense Ministry.

The two allies along with Japan on Jan. 15 had conducted trilateral air drills, featuring two B-1B bombers alongside South Korean F-15K and Japanese F-2 fighter jets.

Separately, the South Korean Marine Corps on Wednesday conducted live drills on two islands near the inter-Korean maritime border amid heightened tensions between Seoul and Pyongyang.

- Seoul seeks joint response with NATO against Pyongyang

Separately, South Korea's Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Kim Myung-soo and head of the NATO Military Committee Adm. Giuseppe Cavo Dragone held a phone call on Thursday to discuss the security situation on the Korean Peninsula.

Kim sought a "joint response" with NATO and the international community amid "increasing uncertainties caused by Pyongyang's nuclear and missile threats and its deepening military cooperation with Russia."

Dragone, former chief of defense of Italy who took office as chief of NATO military on Jan. 17, concurred on the importance of cooperation.

He said North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile technologies and strengthening ties with Russia have "become a global threat, as security in the Indo-Pacific and in Europe are becoming interconnected," according to the Yonhap news agency.