Pacific Air Forces confirmed today that two B-1B Lancer bombers flew from Guam and linked up with counterparts from South Korea Monday for training over the Korean Peninsula in the third such deterrence flight since July 7, enraging North Korea.

The first two flights were launched in response to North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missile tests July 3 and 28, while Monday’s flight with South Korean KF-16 fighters showed the “U.S. commitment to stability and security in the region,” Pacific Air Forces at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam said in a release.

A spokesman for the North Korean People’s Army said Tuesday that the flights by the U.S. strategic bombers “get on the nerves of the DPRK,” using the acronym for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

“In the morning of Aug. 8 (Korean time) the air pirates of Guam again appeared in the sky above South Korea to stage a madcap drill simulating an actual war,” the spokesman said in a Korean Central News Agency story. KCNA is the state news agency of North Korea.

The bombers “frequent” the skies above South Korea and the U.S. muscle-flexing required the Korean People’s Army to “closely watch Guam,” the outpost and beachhead for invading North Korea, the unidentified spokesman said.

“The KPA strategic force is now carefully examining the operational plan for making an enveloping fire at the area around Guam with medium-to-long-range strategic ballistic rocket Hwasong-12 in order to contain the U.S. major military bases on Guam including the Andersen Air Force Base in which the U.S. strategic bombers, which get on the nerves of the DPRK and threaten and blackmail it through their frequent visits to the sky above South Korea, are stationed and to send a serious warning to the U.S,” the statement said.

The North followed that up today by saying it would finalize a plan by mid-August to fire four mid-range missiles hitting waters 19 to 25 miles away from Guam, The Associated Press reported.

Monday’s flight was the first mission for the crews and aircraft recently deployed from Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota in support of U.S. Pacific Command’s “continuous bomber presence” mission to the region, Pacific Air Forces said.

After taking off from Andersen, the B-1s — assigned to the 37th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron — flew to Japanese airspace, where they were joined by Japanese F-2 fighter jets. The B-1s then flew over the Korean Peninsula, where they were joined by South Korean KF-16 fighters, Pacific Air Forces said. The B-1s then performed a pass over the Pilsung Range before leaving South Korean airspace and returning to Guam.

Throughout the mission, which lasted about 10 hours, the aircrews “practiced intercept and formation training,” Pacific Air Forces said, “enabling them to enhance their combined capabilities and tactical skills while also strengthening the long-standing military-to-military relationships in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.”

“Aircrews, maintenance and support personnel will continue generating B-1 bomber sorties to demonstrate the continuing U.S. commitment to stability and security in the region, providing commanders with a strategic power-projection platform and fulfilling the need for aircraft that are mission-ready at any time, an important part of national defense during a time of high regional tension,” Pacific Air Forces officials said.

The United States has maintained a regular bomber presence in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region since 2004. The Aug. 7 mission demonstrated the U.S. commitment to regional allies, increased readiness and exercised the right under international law “to fly legally in the place and time of our choosing,” officials said.