Seoul, South Korea - In the face of growing tensions with North Korea, the US and South Korea held another joint air exercise on Wednesday.

According to the South Korean Defense Ministry, the US sent a long-range B-52H bomber to the Korean peninsula for joint air exercises. The bomber can serve as a nuclear weapons carrier.

The successive deployments of strategic weapons systems to the region underscored US efforts to improve the credibility of extended deterrence, it said. The US had previously sent a B-52 bomber on March 6.

By extended deterrence, the US means the full range of its military capabilities to defend South Korea – including nuclear weapons.

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The latest air exercise between the two countries took place over the Yellow Sea between the Korean Peninsula and China, according to South Korean media reports.

US naval forces recently held joint anti-submarine warfare exercises with South Korea and Japan, with the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz taking part. This exercise was also intended to deter North Korea.

Tensions on the peninsula have been steadily rising since last year. Despite a ban by UN resolutions, North Korea increased the scope of its tests with ballistic missiles, which – depending on their design – can also be equipped with a nuclear warhead.

The widely isolated country also intensified its rhetoric against the US and South Korea. Both countries have resumed full-scale joint maneuvers.