Emergency service personnel wearing chemical protective clothing participate in an anti-chemical warfare exercise on Tuesday, April 16 in Seoul. Tensions remain high in the Korean Peninsula in the wake of North Korea's recent nuclear threats and provocations. A Pentagon intelligence assessment suggests the North may have the ability to deliver a nuclear weapon with a ballistic missile, though the reliability is believed to be "low."
(CNN) -- The U.S. Air Force is breaking out some of its heaviest hardware to send a message to North Korea.
A Pentagon spokesman said Monday that B-52 bombers are making flights over South Korea as part of military exercises this month.
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"Despite challenges with fiscal constraints, training opportunities remain important to ensure U.S. and ROK (Republic of Korea) forces are battle-ready and trained to employ air power to deter aggression, defend the Republic of Korea and defeat any attack against the alliance," Pentagon spokesman George Little said Monday in a meeting with reporters at the Pentagon.
Little said the eight-engine bombers first flew as part of the annual Foal Eagle training exercises on March 8 and were to fly again over South Korea on Tuesday.
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"This mission highlights the extended deterrence and conventional capabilities of the B-52 Stratofortress," Little said Monday.
The bombers are flying out of Andersen Air Force Base on the Pacific island of Guam as part of what the U.S. Pacific Command calls a "continuous bomber presence" in the region. The round trip between Guam and the Korean Peninsula is about 4,000 miles.
"These ... missions are routine and reiterate the U.S. commitment to the security of our allies and partners," Little said.
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The B-52 flights come amid spiking tensions between North Korea and the United States after the U.N. Security Council voted to impose tougher sanctions on North Korea following its latest nuclear test last month.
In a slew of angry rhetoric in response to the U.N. vote, North Korea has threatened to carry out a pre-emptive nuclear attack on the United States and South Korea and said it was nullifying the armistice agreement that stopped the Korean War in 1953.
Reacting to the U.S. flights, a spokesman for the North Korean foreign ministry described them as an "unpardonable provocation," the state news agency reported.
"The DPRK is now closely watching the move of B-52 and the hostile forces will never escape its strong military counteraction, should the strategic bomber make such sortie to the peninsula again," KCNA reported.
Seoul said the B-52 flights demonstrate the strength of the U.S.-South Korea alliance.
"As North Korea threatened to attack South Korea with nuclear weapons, the exercise involving B-52s is meaningful as it shows U.S. commitment to provide its nuclear umbrella on the Korean Peninsula," South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said in a briefing, according to a report from the Yonhap news agency.
U.S. officials said they don't believe North Korea is in a position to strike the United States at the moment, but Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced plans last week to deploy additional ground-based missile interceptors on the West Coast as part of efforts to enhance the nation's ability to defend itself from attack.
As for the B-52s, they have been in the U.S. arsenal since 1955. Once part of the country's nuclear triad planes, missiles and submarines, the B-52 is now used predominantly as a conventional bomber and as a platform for air-launched cruise missiles. The Air Force said B-52s dropped 40% of all the munitions used by coalition forces during Operation Desert Storm in the early 1990s.
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CNN's Chris Lawrence contributed to this report.
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South Korean marines arrive on the island of Yeonpyeong near the disputed waters of the Yellow Sea on Friday, April 12.
A Japanese soldier is on alert as Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missile launchers are deployed at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Wednesday, April 10.
South Korean soldiers sit in a truck at the Inter-Korean transit office on Tuesday, April 9, in Paju, South Korea.
South Korean soldiers participate in an artillery drill as part of the Foal Eagle joint military exercise by U.S. and South Korean forces near the Demilitarized Zone in Goseong on April 9.
U.S. soldiers are at a military training field in Yeoncheon, South Korea, on April 9.
South Korean soldiers with K-55 self-propelled Howitzers stage at a military training field in the border city of Paju on Friday, April 5, as tensions continue to mount on the Korean peninsula.
South Korean soldiers man a cannon at a military training field in Paju on April 5.
South Korean soldiers stand guard at a sentry post at the border with North Korea in the Demilitarized Zone near Imjingak, South Korea, on April 5.
A U.S. Army Patriot missile battery is visible at the U.S. Osan Air Base in South Korea on Friday, April 5.
The U.S. Navy is moving a sea-based radar platform, like the one seen in this 2006 file photo, closer to the North Korean coast to monitor that country's military moves, including possible new missile launches, a Defense Department official said Monday, April 1.
South Korean marines man K-55 self-propelled Howitzers at a military training field in the border city of Paju on Monday, April 1. Park Geun-hye, South Korea's new president, promised a strong military response to any North Korean provocation after North Korea announced that the two countries were in a state of war.
South Korean anti-aircraft armored vehicles move across a temporary bridge during a river crossing drill in Hwacheon near the North Korean border on Monday, April 1.
South Korean soldiers ride on a military truck in Paju on Friday, March 29.
The United States said Thursday, March 28, that it flew stealth bombers over South Korea to participate in annual military exercises amid spiking tensions with North Korea. Pictured, a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber flies over South Korea's western port city of Pyeongtaek.
South Korean soldiers gather at the foot of a mountain near a military drill field in the border city of Paju on Wednesday, March 27.
Armed South Korean soldiers walk on a road near a military drill field in Paju on March 27.
South Korean soldiers ride in a military truck in Paju on March 27.
A B-52 bomber flies over the wire-topped fence of a U.S. air base in Osan, South Korea, on Tuesday, March 19.
South Korean soldiers take part in a drill to guard the building of a state-run telecom company in Seoul against potential guerrilla attacks on Thursday, March 14.
South Korean army soldiers jump off a military truck during a drill outside a U.S. airbase in Pyeongtaek as part of annual joint exercises with the United States on March 14.
South Korean Marines operate K-55 self-propelled howitzers on the western island of Ganghwa near the disputed maritime frontier with North Korea on Wednesday, March 13.
South Korean soldiers stand guard as a North Korean soldier, far center, looks on at the truce village of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone dividing the two Koreas on March 13.
South Korean marines patrol on the South Korea-controlled island of Yeonpyeong near the disputed waters of the Yellow Sea on Tuesday, March 12.
In this Navy handout image taken on March 5, Lt. j.g. Matthew Harmon serves as helm safety officer aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell during a replenishment at sea, part of Foal Eagle 2013, the joint exercises between the United States and South Korea.
Fire Controlman 2nd Class Jason Titcombe, left, hands Fire Controlman 2nd Class Joshua Clements ordnance aboard the destroyer USS Lassen in this Navy handout photo taken on March 5.
U.S. Navy Boatswain's Mate 3rd Class Brittany Chiles signals to an SH-60B Seahawk helicopter as it lands on the flight deck of the destroyer USS McCampbell on March 4 in the Pacific Ocean, in this Navy handout photo.
This March 17 Navy handout image shows the destroyer USS John S. McCain, front; the Republic of Korea Navy destroyer ROKS Seoae-Yu-Seong-Ryong, center; and the destroyer USS McCampbell moving into formation in the waters off the Korean Peninsula during exercise Foal Eagle 2013.
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