U.S., Japan say their fighter jets staged joint flight after North Korea missile launches

The U.S. military and Japan's Self Defense Force said on Thursday that eight of their fighter jets flew together over the Sea of Japan after North Korea earlier lobbed three missiles into the waters that separate Japan and the Korean peninsula.

The exercise was meant to "showcase combined capabilities to deter and counter regional threats", the U.S. military said in a press release.

(Reporting by Tim Kelly and Phil Stewart; Editing by Himani Sarkar)