The United States has approved the sale of F-35 fighter jets to South Korea, a deal worth $5.06 billion, amid heightened tensions with North Korea, the State Department said on Wednesday, AFP reported.

According to the same source, the contract, which was notified to Congress, involves the sale of up to 25 copies of this fighter, which is considered the most powerful on the market, to Seoul.

According to a State Department statement, the sale “will enhance South Korea’s ability to counter current and future threats, providing a robust defense capability to deter aggression in the region and ensure interoperability with U.S. forces.”

This will not change the “military balance in the region”, the same source assured.

South Korea has been using the F-35 since 2018. The United States approves the sale of these aircraft only to its closest partners, for example, Turkey was excluded from the F-35 program after buying an anti-missile system from Russia.

The sale comes amid tensions with Pyongyang, which launched two more short-range ballistic missiles on Wednesday and whose leader Kim Jong Un is in Russia for a high-level meeting with President Vladimir Putin.

Since the beginning of the year, North Korea has conducted a series of banned weapons tests, the latest of which on August 30 also included two short-range ballistic missiles.

The United States and South Korea regularly hold military exercises, the most recent of which took place in August, angering Pyongyang.