U.S. B-1B bombers train with South Korea fighter jets

June 20 (UPI) -- U.S. B-1B strategic bombers trained with South Korea's F-15K fighter jets over the peninsula in a show of force that warned North Korea against additional provocations.

Lt. Col. Kim Sung-duk, a South Korean air force spokesman, said the military was holding drills with two B-1B Lancers on Tuesday, Yonhap reported.

Joint training is a regular event between the two militaries, Kim said.

The deployment of strategic assets like B-1B bombers often takes place in secrecy.

In March, North Korea accused the United States of deploying the supersonic bomber to the peninsula, before the measure was made public and later confirmed by the United States and South Korea.

The forces concluded mock bombing exercises at the Pulsing Range in South Korea's Gangwon Province, situated across the border with North Korea.

The U.S. Pacific Air Forces declined to discuss the operations on Tuesday, according to Yonhap.

The drills come at a time of escalating tensions between the United States and North Korea.

The death of 22-year-old Otto Warmbier a week after his release from North Korea has prompted angry condemnations of the Kim Jong Un regime in Washington and Seoul.

The exercises are also being held days after Moon Chung-in, a special adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, said Seoul could reduce the number of U.S. strategic assets to the peninsula as a condition for an end to North Korea provocations.

Seoul's presidential Blue House dismissed the unilateral remarks, and the special adviser was admonished for "not helping the U.S.-South Korea alliance," News 1 reported.

The USS Dewey, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, also arrived on the peninsula on Tuesday, making a "routine" port call to Jeju Island, according to the U.S. Navy.