The US Air Force is moving 31 F-16s from Kunsan to Osan Air Base—about 48 miles south of the Demilitarized Zone—just days after Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, warned that talks are impossible unless Washington drops its denuclearization demand.
“Any attempt to deny the position of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state, which was established along with the existence of a powerful nuclear deterrent and fixed by the supreme law reflecting the unanimous will of all the DPRK people, will be thoroughly rejected,” she said.
The Pentagon said the shift “consolidates air power and enhances combat readiness.” Roughly 1,000 airmen from the 8th Fighter Wing are relocating with the jets, creating what planners call a second “super squadron.”
“This test is an opportunity for us to see if squadrons of this size increase our training effectiveness while also increasing our combat capability if deterrence fails,” explained Lt. Gen. David Iverson, commander of Seventh Air Force.
Phase II of the experiment is labeled temporary but is slated to run from October 2025 through October 2026. Each super squadron fields 31 fighters—about one-third more than a standard unit—allowing greater sortie generation from a single base.
Analysts note that Osan’s proximity to the border—closer than any other permanent US fighter base—makes the deployment highly visible to Pyongyang and potentially vulnerable in a conflict.
South Korea, meanwhile, is pulling in the opposite direction. The Defence Ministry began removing loudspeakers that once blasted K-pop music and propaganda across the frontier, calling it “a practical measure aimed at easing tensions.”
Washington’s footprint continues to expand beyond air power. In February, the nuclear-powered USS Alexandria docked in Busan, prompting North Korean threats of “acute military confrontation.”
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