North Korea Displays Old Fighter Jets, "Air Force Power That Sends Enemies' Blood Running Cold"

On the 10th Anniversary of Aviation Day on the 29th, Air Force Power Displayed
Boasted About Protest Flights During ROK-US Exercises

The American strategic bomber B-1B Lancer, known to be the most feared by North Korea

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hee-jun] North Korea has made an absurd claim that it forced South Korea to submit using its air force power on the occasion of the '10th Anniversary of Aviation Day.' In particular, it praised its protest flights in response to the South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises, but in reality, some North Korean military aircraft were unable to take off properly or even crashed.

The Workers' Party organ, Rodong Sinmun, on the 29th published an article titled "The Invincible Air Force Raised Under the Great Marshal's Guidance, the Red Hawk of the Workers' Party of Korea - On the Occasion of Aviation Day," claiming, "In early November, when a large-scale total combat deployment operation of our air force was carried out, the enemies once again knelt down."

It further asserted, "It was not only because the number of combat aircraft mobilized in the operation was the largest scale," but "the spirit of resolute defense of the homeland, fully loaded in the hearts of hundreds, chilled the enemies' hearts."

This refers to the protest flights North Korea conducted in response to the South Korea-U.S. joint air exercise 'Vigilant Storm' on November 4th. At that time, the Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that they identified flight trajectories of about 180 North Korean military aircraft and took countermeasures.

The article also mentioned the aerial military protest conducted in early October. The newspaper emphasized, "Because our combat pilots are infinitely loyal to the homeland and the people, they were able to decisively crush the enemies' reckless war provocation schemes even in early October."

North Korea claimed that it conducted a "large-scale comprehensive air attack exercise" involving about 150 fighter jets on the 8th of last month. However, it was found that some of the aircraft mobilized for the exercise failed to take off properly, made emergency landings, and some even crashed.

Additionally, the newspaper praised the air force's significant role in the process of launching the domestically developed satellite 'Kwangmyongsong-2' aboard the long-range rocket 'Unha-2' in April 2009. The article stated, "At that time, although our republic was launching a peaceful artificial earth satellite, hostile forces went mad trying to intercept it," and "therefore, the 14 heroic fighters, upon receiving the Central Party's combat order to crush enemy warship groups and interception means with powerful counterattacks as soon as enemy interception acts occurred, entered low-altitude maritime flight training without hesitation."

At that time, North Korea conducted reconnaissance flights over the East Sea off North Hamgyong Province in preparation for the possible interception of Kwangmyongsong-2. However, during this process, a military aircraft crashed, killing 14 people, and a monument honoring their heroic deeds was erected at the 447th Air and Anti-Aircraft Unit.

North Korea's air force is considered relatively weaker among its conventional forces. Until 2011, North Korea commemorated August 20, the founding date of its first regular flying squadron in 1947, as 'Air Force Day.' Then, in 2012, under the direction of Kim Jong-un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party, November 29, the date when President Kim Il-sung established the aviation unit in 1945, was designated as 'Aviation Day.'

Meanwhile, North Korea declared the "completion of national nuclear forces" following the test launch of the Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in 2017. In the 2021 calendar, November 29 was marked as both 'Aviation Day' and 'Rocket Industry Day,' but this year’s calendar confirmed that the 'Rocket Industry Day' notation was omitted.