UPDATES WITH STATEMENT BY CHINA; CHANGES HEADLINE, LEDE
ISTABUL (AA) - A US military aircraft Wednesday dropped munitions during a joint air drill with South Korean forces on the Korean Peninsula.
The South Korean Defense Ministry said the US' strategic B-1B bomber was part of the bombing drills.
It is the first time in seven years that the US bomber has joined such military exercises in South Korea, the Seoul-based Yonhap News reported.
The bomber dropped "joint direct attack munitions at an unspecified location in the country, while being escorted by South Korean F-15K fighter jets," said the ministry.
The US has some 28,500 soldiers deployed in South Korea, along with arms and weaponry.
The drills by the US bomber come amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula as South Korea has decided to resume all military activities along the border with the North.
Pyongyang had sent hundreds of balloons carrying trash to South Korea, triggering condemnation, as well as Seoul’s move to end the 2018 pact which aims to reduce tensions with North Korea.
The North Korean leader has personally directed test military drills, stressing the need to protect the country's sovereignty.
South Korea’s spy agency also detected that Pyongyang was demolishing the northern side of the inter-Korean railway on the east coast “in an apparent move to erase the legacy of inter-Korean exchange and cooperation.”
Earlier, the South Korean military said it detected GPS jamming near islands that Seoul controls.
Meanwhile, China on Wednesday said it was "concerned" about the current developments on the Korean Peninsula.
"Maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula is in the common interest of all parties," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters in Beijing.
Reacting to Seoul's decision to end the pact with Pyongyang, Mao said Beijing supports all stakeholders in "improving relations through dialogue, and opposing any actions or rhetoric that could exacerbate tensions."
China hopes the parties involved will "remain calm, will speak and act cautiously, and will play a constructive role in maintaining peace and stability on the peninsula," she added.