U.S., South Korea launch air drills amid North Korean warnings of nuclear war

The United States and SouthKorea went ahead with large-scale joint aerial drills on Monday,a move North Korea had said would push the Korean peninsula to"the brink of nuclear war," ignoring calls from Russia and Chinato call them off.

The drills come a week after North Korea said it had testedits most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile capable ofreaching the United States as part of a weapons programthatit has conducted in defiance of international sanctions andcondemnation.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said it was "regrettable"that all parties had not "grasped the window of opportunity" presented by two months of relative calm before the North's mostrecent test.

China and Russia had proposed that the United States andSouth Korea stop major military exercises in exchange for NorthKorea halting its weapons programs. Beijing formally calls theidea the "dual suspension"proposal.

The annual U.S.-South Korean drill, called Vigilant Ace,will run until Friday, with six F-22 Raptor stealth fighters to be deployed among the more than 230 aircraft taking part.

North Korea's so-called Committee for the Peaceful Reunification ofthe Country called U.S. President Donald Trump "insane" on Sunday and said the drills would "push the already acutesituation on the Korean peninsula to the brink of nuclear war."

F-35 fighters will also join the drills, which will includethe largest number of fifth-generation fighters ever to have taken part, according to a South Korea-based U.S. Air Force spokesperson.

Recent missile test

Around 12,000 U.S. service members, including from the marines and navy, will join South Korean troops. Aircraft takingpart will be flown from eight U.S. and South Korean militaryinstallations.

South Korean media reports said B-1B Lancer bombers couldjoin the exercise this week. The U.S. air force spokesperson couldnot confirm the reports.

Trump said last week that additional major sanctions wouldbe imposed on North Korea after Pyongyang's intercontinentalballistic missile test.

Earlier last month, Trump put North Korea back on a list ofstate sponsors of terrorism, a designation that allows the United States to impose more sanctions.

Russia has accused the United States of trying to provokeNorth Korean leader Kim Jong Un into "flying off the handle" over his missile programto hand Washington a pretext todestroy his country.

Speaking at a news briefing in Beijing, Wang said Chinaconsistently opposed any behaviour that elevated tensions.

"And measures that don't abide by or are outside the UNSecurity Council resolutions lack basis in international law and damage the rights of United Nations members," Wang said whenasked about the prospect of further U.S. sanctions against NorthKorea.

'Extremely dangerous'

China's Air Force said on Monday that its surveillanceaircraft had in recent days conducted drills in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea to "improve combat-readiness and safeguardthe country's strategic interests."

The aircraft took a flight path not previously flown toregions they had never previously operated in, and coordinated with fighter jets, alert aircraft and guided missile forces,spokespersonShen Jinke said, according to a post on the air force's official blog.

The joint exercises between South Korea and United Statesare designed to enhance readiness and operational capability andto ensure peace and security on the Korean peninsula, the U.S.military had said before the drills began.

The North's KCNA state news agency, citing a foreignministry spokesperson, said on Saturday the Trump administrationwas "begging for nuclear war by staging an extremely dangerousnuclear gamble on the Korean peninsula."

North Korea regularly uses its state media to threaten theUnited States and its allies.

North Korea has tested dozens of ballistic missiles andconducted its sixth and largest nuclear bomb test in September,in violation of UNSecurity Council resolutions.

It has said its weapons programs are a necessary defenceagainst U.S. plans to invade. The United States, which has28,500 troops stationed in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53Korean War, denies any such intention.