Japan, US fly fighters after China drill, N. Korean missiles

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Defense Ministry says that Japanese and U.S. forces have conducted a joint fighter jet flight over the Sea of Japan, in an apparent response to a Russia-China joint bomber flight while U.S. President Joe Biden was in Tokyo. The Japan-U.S. flight on Wednesday was meant to confirm combined capabilities and further strengthen the two countries’ alliance, the Defense Ministry said Thursday. The flight was also held hours after North Korea fired three missiles, including an intercontinental ballistic missile, toward the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. The missiles fell into the waters outside of Japan’s exclusive economic zone.