South Korea and the United States kick off their annual joint air force exercise on this Friday over the western airspace of the Korean peninsula.
The six-day drill named 'Max Thunder' involves about 50 fighter jets including F-15Ks and KF-16s and over 250 pilots from the two forces.
Korea's Air Force said this year's air readiness training focuses on defeating possible air strikes from North Korea following the March sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan.
Also, the drill aims at practicing war fighting skills in realistic combat situations and improving cooperationg between the two allies.
The maneuvers will run until October 22nd.

Reporter : narikim@arirang.co.kr