The US military announced that fighter planes from the United States and Japan carried out exercises over the Sea of Japan today, Tuesday, after North Korea conducted its first test-fire of a ballistic missile over Japan in five years.
The US Indo-Pacific Command, based in Hawaii, affirmed - in a statement - that its commitment to "defense" South Korea and Japan is unwavering.
It added that the maneuvers were carried out by US Marine Corps combat aircraft with Japanese Air Self-Defense Force fighter jets.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and the foreign ministers of Japan and South Korea - during a phone call - condemned North Korea's launch of a new ballistic missile.
During the call, Blinken stressed his country's "commitment to defend" South Korea and Japan, calling on North Korea to take responsibility for its "unacceptable" behavior, as he put it.
On Tuesday morning, North Korea launched a medium-range ballistic missile that flew over Japan before falling into the sea, in an unprecedented event since 2017, and a clear escalation in the intensive military testing campaign that Pyongyang has conducted since the beginning of the year.
This prompted the Japanese authorities to warn residents, and asked them to take cover, as train movements in the north of the country were temporarily suspended.
The last time a North Korean missile flew over Japan dates back to 2017, at the height of the "fire and fury" phase, during which North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump threw heavy insults.