The South Korean military says fighter jets from Japan, the United States and South Korea took part in an exercise, while US B-1 bombers were mobilized over the Korean Peninsula.

The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Wednesday that the joint drill was held in airspace east of the southern island of Jeju, where the air defense identification zones of Japan and South Korea overlap.

It is the second time that Japan's Air Self-Defense Force has carried out a joint exercise with US and South Korean air forces, following the first trilateral drill in October.

North Korea is strongly cautious about US B-1 bombers. South Korean media say the aircraft loaded with a large amount of munitions can reach the Korean Peninsula from Guam within two hours.

The South Korean military says the latest drill is aimed to show the three countries' will to strongly respond to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, including the firing of a solid-fuel ICBM.