US Flew 4 Surveillance Planes Over Korean Peninsula Amid Christmas Threat

Four U.S. surveillance planes flew over the Korean peninsula even as the Trump administration waited for the “Christmas Gift” that North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un’s had promised.

Kim had said that he had a “Christmas gift” for Trump if the nuclear arms negotiations between the two countries were not resumed by Dec. 31. The statement was seen as a veiled threat about the country ending its self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile testing. No such test has been reported till the time of publication of this article.

South Korean publication Yonhap News reported Wednesday that the U.S. had sent four airplanes -- RC-135W Rivet Joint, E-8C, RQ-4 Global Hawk and RC-135S Cobra Ball -- on reconnaissance missions over the Korean peninsula on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Aircraft Spots, an aviation tracking Twitter account, reported the U.S. surveillance flights over and near the Korean peninsula in a series of tweets.

The Global Hawk flew at 53,000 feet. The RC-135W and the E-8C flew at 31,000 feet, and the RC-135S flew from Japan's Kadena Air Base and conducted missions over the East Sea. The aircraft were supported by a KC-135R refueling aircraft stationed over the East Sea.

It seems that despite President Trump’s taking the threat lightly and stating that the dictator may have a “nice present” or a “beautiful vase” for him, the U.S. military was on full alert and watching.

“We’ll find out what the surprise is, and we’ll deal with it very successfully," Trump had stated at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Tuesday. "Everybody’s got surprises for me, but let’s see what happens. I handle them as they come along. Maybe it’s a nice present. Maybe it’s a present where he sends me a beautiful vase as opposed to a missile test. I may get a vase. I may get a nice present from him. You don’t know. You never know."

Trump has repeatedly denied that the North Korean nuclear threat, despite global fears that the country possesses an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) system. It has also conducted rocket-engine tests at its satellite launch site, which could be a preparation for an ICBM test.