Rival Koreas scramble warplanes in extension of tensions

By KIM TONG-HYUNG
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea has scrambled about 80 military aircraft, including advanced F-35 fighter jets, after tracking about 180 flights by North Korean warplanes inside North Korean territory in what appeared to be a defiant show of strength. North Korea’s mobilization of warplanes came after it test-fired around 30 ballistic missiles over the previous two days, including an intercontinental ballistic missile on Thursday that triggered evacuation warnings in Japan, in an angry response to ongoing joint exercises by hundreds of U.S. and South Korea military planes. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff says the North Korean warplanes were detected in various areas inland and along the country’s eastern and western coasts and did not come particularly close to the Koreas’ border.