Seoul, Apr. 15 (BNA): South Korea and the United States on Tuesday staged joint air drills, involving U.S. B-1B bombers, over the Korean Peninsula, the defense ministry said, in a show of force against North Korean military threats.

According to the ministry, the exercise, which also mobilized South Korean F-35A and F-16 fighter jets and U.S. F-16s, took place to demonstrate the allies' capabilities to respond to North Korea's advancing nuclear and missile threats, South Korean News Agendy (Yonhap) reported.

The drills coincided with the 113th birth anniversary of North Korea's late state founder Kim Il-sung, a major national holiday in the North, called the "Day of the Sun."

"In order to deter and respond to North Korea's threats, South Korea and the U.S. will continue to expand combined exercises and strengthen the level of cooperation of the South Korea-U.S. alliance," the ministry said.

The ministry did not specify the number of B-1Bs deployed, but photos of the drills showed two U.S. long-range heavy bombers flying in formation with fighter jets.

The allies' exercise marked the second one of its kind this year after similar drills on Feb. 20. The two countries also held trilateral air drills with Japan, involving conventional bomber, in January.

North Korea has often reacted angrily to the deployment of U.S. strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula, accusing Washington of raising tensions.

Pyongyang threatened to use "strategic means" to counter threats from the U.S. after the allies' February drills.

The allies' latest exercise also took place after the ouster of former President Yoon Suk Yeol earlier this month when the Constitutional Court upheld his impeachment over his short-lived imposition of martial law in December.

H.F, م.ا.ف