Pak Sahafat – Washington and Manila agreed on Thursday to expand the US military presence in the Philippines, which includes access to four more bases in the country located in Southeast Asia.
According to Pak Sahafat News Agency from the Associated Press news agency; The agreement was signed at the same time as US Defense Secretary Lloyd Aston visited the Philippines to discuss the deployment of US troops and weapons in several other military bases in the Philippines.
As a part of this agreement, Washington is supposed to allocate 82 million dollars to improve the infrastructure of its current five bases in the Philippines, and US military forces will be stationed in four other bases in strategic points in the Philippines.
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Before visiting the Philippines, Austin said in South Korea that the United States plans to deploy its advanced weapons such as fighter jets and bombers on the Korean Peninsula to increase joint exercises with South Korean military forces in response to North Korea’s growing nuclear threat.
According to IRNA’s report on Wednesday, quoting from Yonhap news agency; The United States and South Korea held an air exercise involving a B-1B strategic bomber and F-35 and F-22 stealth fighters aimed at demonstrating military “will and capabilities” against North Korea.
South Korea’s Ministry of Defense announced that the exercise took place on Wednesday over the Yellow Sea and South Korean F-35 fighter jets also participated in it.
This exercise was held while North Korea continues to develop long-range missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads due to the support of the United States for its allies. These missiles are capable of hitting American soil.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on a visit to Seoul on Tuesday that the US will send more advanced military equipment to South Korea, including F-35 and F-22 fighter jets.