Thread by @NoonInKorea

Trump may have suspended US-SK joint exercises but that doesn't mean air exercises w/Japan have stopped. 2 nuke-capable US B-52s practice with 6 F-15 ASDF (Japan's Air Self-Defense Force) fighter jets over the Sea of Japan/East Sea outside SK air space yonhapnews.co.kr/nk/2018/07/28/…

JT isn't sure where the drill was held but Yonhap says it was over East Sea outside SK air space. What for? "To enhance joint operations abilities. Raise combat skills.” Well, this is an adjoining air space (KADIZ-JADIZ), so we know what the drill was for
japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/07/2…

The joint practice wasn't exactly "rare." Actually Japan's ASDF practiced with B-52s in Nov 2017 and also in January (no, not with the nukes loaded). Remember, Mattis deployed six B-52s to Guam in January so they could sit pretty at Andersen AFB theaviationist.com/2018/01/16/six…

Recall also the US scrapped a joint air exercise involving B-52s in May prior to the Singapore summit. This was mainly due to concern expressed by SK that the move could heighten tensions. The canceled exercise was not just with SK but also w/Japan's ASDF
cnbc.com/2018/05/18/us-…

Here's the flight path of B-1Bs during exercises w/SK & Japan. They're held at the same time due to adjoining airspace. As the bombers enter KADIZ, ASDF jets drop off and SK jets join in. What prolly happened is the B-52s veered right to fly a wider route
yonhapnews.co.kr/bulletin/2017/…

It may not be "max pressure" but there's still pressure on NK due to proximity of exercises w/Japan. Plus the comings and goings at US bases in Japan which are underreported. The Pentagon never forfeited this dimension of military presence and pressure