(VOVworld) - Around 1,000 US airmen and fighter jets have teamed up with South Korea's Air Force in a joint combat training to ensure their readiness against North Korea's provocations, the Pacific Command (PACOM) announced Monday.

South Korean and U.S. fighter jets fly together in the 2016 Max Thunder exercise (Photo: Yonhap)

The two-week Max Thunder exercise, one of the largest military flying exercises held annually in South Korea, is scheduled to run though April 28 at Kunsan Air Base in the southwest of the peninsula. South Korea has dispatched roughly 500 personnel in support of the fighters, as well as other Air Force planes in operation.