The United States has been accused of violating North Korean airspace. According to Reuters, the city of Pyongyang claimed it has tolerated unapproved U.S. reconnaissance planes and drones and may shoot them down.
The Korean Central News Agency released a statement from the DPRK Ministry of National Defense. This decried U.S. efforts to strategize nuclear powers in the area as “the most undisguised nuclear blackmail.”
It went on to state, “Whether the extreme situation, desired by nobody, is created or not on the Korean peninsula depends on the future action of the U.S., and if any sudden situation happens … the U.S. will be held totally accountable for it.”
It also pointed out various alleged recent incidents, “This month alone, RC-135, U-2S and RQ-4B, strategic reconnaissance planes and reconnaissance drone belonging to the U.S. Air Force, flew over the East and West seas of Korea in turn for eight straight days from July 2 to 9 to conduct provocative aerial espionage on the DPRK’s strategic interior.”
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, stated that U.S. planes were forced to “retreat,” after the North Korean air force “scrambled” to respond Monday, per NK News.
She also noted the U.S. aircraft allegedly returned and “again invaded our maritime demarcation line airspace at 400 km east of Kosong, Kangwon Province, at around 8:50 a.m., and made a stern military provocation by conducting things such as aerial reconnaissance activities.”
She added, “The invasion of reconnaissance assets of hostile countries with a detection radius of more than 240 nautical miles into our 200 nautical mile economic zone is clearly a severe violation of the sovereignty and security of the DPRK.”
Yo Jong went on to declare, “In the end, a shocking incident will inevitably occur in the problematic 20-40 km area of our economic maritime zone airspace, where U.S. spy planes often intrude into, crossing the maritime military demarcation line.”
As per the Reuters article, the South Korean military has stated that these claims are untrue and that the U.S. was merely conducting routine reconnaissance flights.
The U.S. military has offered no immediate response to the ongoing situation.