IRIA News

Pyongyang has accused the U.S. of intruding on North Korea’s air space over the past few weeks. It released a warning saying that it may shoot down any U.S. Air Force plane that illegally intrudes on North Korean air space.

Pyongyang issued the warning through North Korea’s state-owned media outlet KCNA. According to a spokesperson from North Korea’s Ministry of National Defense, the U.S. Air Force’s spy planes have frequently entered North Korean air space this month. The statement came after U.S. Force Korea conducted joint aerial drills with the South Korean military in late June. 

North Korea said it scrambled warplanes to ward off a U.S. spy plane in its exclusive economic zone. Pyongyang said in its statement that “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.”

“In particular, a strategic reconnaissance plane of the U.S. Air Force illegally intruded into the inviolable airspace of the DPRK over its East Sea tens of kilometers several times,” it added.

The statement also said that North Korea is maintaining “utmost patience and self-control, but everything has its limit.” It added that “There is no guarantee that such shocking accident as downing of the U.S. Air Force strategic reconnaissance plane will not happen in the East Sea of Korea.”

Sister of North Korea’s Supreme Leader, Kim Yo Jong, also accused the U.S. of sending spy planes inside North Korea’s exclusive economic zone, the area within 200 nautical miles of its territory where it controls rights to natural resources. She said that a U.S. spy plane crossed the eastern sea boundary between the Koreas at around 5 a.m. on July 9, 20203, and conducted reconnaissance activities over the North’s exclusive economic zone before being chased away by North Korean warplanes.  

Kim added that the U.S. aircraft crossed the eastern sea boundary again at around 8:50 a.m., prompting North Korea’s military to issue a “strong warning” toward the United States. She also warned that the North Korean military would take necessary actions to shoot down the U.S. Air Force planes if the actions are repeated. “A shocking incident would occur in the long run in the 20–40-kilometer section in which the U.S. spy planes habitually intrude into the sky above the economic water zone,” she said.

U.S. and South Korea Reaction

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff has rejected North Korea’s accusations of air space violation and added that U.S. air surveillance assets conduct routine reconnaissance flights around the peninsula. U.S. and South Korean forces recently conducted a joint military exercise that involved flying a U.S. Air Force B-52H bomber over the Korean Peninsula.

Pentagon also dismissed Pyongyang’s accusations of airspace violations, asserting that the U.S. military adhered to international law. Hours after the accusations, a U.S. state department spokesperson called on North Korea to refrain from escalatory actions and reiterated the call for engaging in diplomacy. “We would urge the DPRK to refrain from escalatory actions and again call on it to engage in serious and sustained diplomacy,” U.S. Department of State Press Secretary Matthew Miller said.

The U.S. Air Force earlier said that “The ROK-U.S. combined aerial training event consisted of ROK Air Force F-35s, KF-16s, and U.S. Air Force F-16s and F-15s escorting the U.S. B-52 strategic bombers as they entered the Korean Air Defense Identification Zone to conduct a combined flight training.”

The statement added that the training “offered the alliance an opportunity to further strengthen its interoperability by demonstrating a combined defense capability, rapid deployment, and extended deterrence in the defense of the Korean Peninsula.” 

Increased military activities around the Korean Peninsula in recent times have raised tensions in the region. In mid-June, the U.S. Navy also deployed a nuclear-powered submarine capable of carrying around 150 Tomahawk missiles to South Korean waters. A move that a North Korean defense spokesman called “a very dangerous situation.”