North Korea Says Violation of Country’s Airspace Could Be ‘Critical Flight’ for US Planes
06:24 GMT 11.07.2023 (Updated: 13:37 GMT 18.09.2023)
© AP Photo / Lee Jin-manFILE - This Oct. 12, 2008 file photo shows a U.S. U2 reconnaissance plane taking off at the U.S. airbase in Osan, south of Seoul, South Korea. The U-2 spy plane outlasted the Cold War, outlived its successor and helped avert the world’s nuclear annihilation a half century ago. Defense cuts now threaten to knock the high-flying reconnaissance aircraft nicknamed the Dragon Lady out of the sky. The Air Force wants to gradually retire the fleet of 32 planes that can soar to an altitude of 70,000 feet, collect intelligence on North Korea and Russia and rapidly send the data to U.S. commanders, a crucial capability with an unpredictable Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang and an emboldened Vladimir Putin in Moscow. (AP Photo/ Lee Jin-man, File)
© AP Photo / Lee Jin-man
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Kim Yo Jong, deputy department director of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea and sister of the country's leader, said on Tuesday that another attempt by US aircraft to violate the country's airspace could become a "critical flight" for them.
On Monday, Kim Yo Jong said that a US reconnaissance plane entered the airspace above North Korea's economic zone. A spokesman for the North Korean Ministry of National Defense added that US reconnaissance aircraft violated the country’s airspace several times from July 2-9.
"I have already notified beforehand the counteraction of our army upon authorization. In case of repeated illegal intrusion, the U.S. forces will experience a very critical flight," the politician was quoted as saying by North Korean state media.
She added that on Monday, a US strategic reconnaissance plane "intruded into the economic water zone of the DPRK side in the East Sea of Korea [Sea of Japan] eight times."