If you want to see more than a billion Chinese people killed and thousands of years of Chinese history wiped out for a couple of rocks. Be my guess. You shut down islands, but remember what happened to Japan when it thought U.S. could not hit its main islands during WW2. Doolittle Raid. And this was WW2. Just recently North Korea freaked out when a pair of B2s came from the U.S. mainland and dropped a couple of bombs in the Korean peninsula and returned home.
U.S. says it sent B-2 stealth bombers over South Korea - CNN.com
(CNN) -- The United States said Thursday it flew stealth bombers over South Korea to participate in annual military exercises amid spiking tensions with North Korea.
The B-2 Spirit bombers flew more than 6,500 miles from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri to South Korea, dropping inert munitions there as part of the exercises, before returning to the U.S. mainland, the U.S Forces in Korea said in a statement.
The mission by the planes, which can carry both conventional and nuclear weapons, "demonstrates the United States' ability to conduct long range, precision strikes quickly and at will," the statement said.
The U.S. military's announcement earlier this month that it was flying B-52 bombers over South Korea to participate in the routine exercises prompted an angry reaction from the regime of Kim Jong Un, which has unleashed a torrent of threats in the past few weeks.
North Korea’s Kim orders rockets on standby after U.S. sends B-2s to South Korea for military drills | Toronto Star
North Korea’s Kim orders rockets on standby after U.S. sends B-2s to South Korea for military drills
Kim Jong Un’s comments are part of a rising tide of threats meant to highlight anger over the military drills and recent UN sanctions over Pyongyang’s nuclear test.
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA—North Korea’s leader said Friday that his rocket forces are ready “to settle accounts with the U.S.,” an escalation of the country’s bellicose rhetoric and a direct response to the unprecedented announcement that U.S. nuclear-capable B-2 stealth bombers had joined military drills with South Korea.
Kim Jong Un’s comments in a meeting with his senior generals are part of a rising tide of threats meant to highlight anger over the military drills and recent UN sanctions over Pyongyang’s nuclear test.
North Korea sees U.S. nuclear firepower as a direct threat to its existence and claims the annual military drills are a preparation for invasion.
Pyongyang also uses the U.S. nuclear arsenal as a justification for its own push for nuclear-tipped missiles that can strike the United States — a goal that experts believe to be years away, despite a nuclear test last month and a long-range rocket launch in December.
A full-blown North Korean attack is unlikely, though there are fears of a more localized conflict, such as a naval skirmish in disputed Yellow Sea waters. Such naval clashes have happened three times since 1999.
North Korea’s threats are seen by outside analysts as efforts to provoke South Korea to soften its policies and to win direct talks with Washington that could result in aid. Kim’s comments are also seen as ways to build domestic loyalty and strengthen his military credentials.
Kim met early Friday morning with his senior generals, state media reported, signed a rocket preparation plan and ordered his forces on standby to strike the U.S. mainland, South Korea, Guam and Hawaii.
Many analysts say they’ve seen no evidence that Pyongyang’s missiles can hit the U.S. mainland. But it has capable short- and mid-range missiles, and Seoul is only a short drive from the heavily armed border separating the Koreas.
U.S. Forces Korea said Thursday that the B-2 stealth bombers flew from a U.S. airbase in Missouri and dropped dummy munitions on the South Korean island range before returning home. It was unclear whether America’s stealth bombers were used in past annual drills with South Korea, but this is the first time the military has announced their use.
The statement follows an earlier U.S. announcement that nuclear-capable B-52 bombers participated in the joint military drills.