SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un claimed on Monday that the country’s warplanes repelled a US spy plane flying over its exclusive economic zone and warned of the consequences “shocking” if the United States continued its reconnaissance activities in the area.
The U.S. and South Korean military did not immediately respond to comments by Kim Yo Jong, one of his brother’s top foreign policy officials, which were published in state media late Monday.
Earlier on Monday, North Korea’s Defense Ministry issued a statement accusing the United States of flying spy planes into its “inviolable airspace” and warning that approaching planes could be shot down.
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff responded by denying that the United States had flown spy planes over North Korean territory. Spokesman Lee Sung Joon told a briefing that the United States was carrying out standard reconnaissance activities in coordination with the South Korean military.
Apparently in response to that comment, Kim accused the Joint Chiefs of Staff of acting as a “mouthpiece” for the US military and said the US was stepping up reconnaissance activities in a grave violation. sovereignty and security of North Korea.
But while the North Korean Defense Ministry’s statement appeared to imply an intrusion into the country’s territorial airspace, Kim accused the United States of sending spy planes over the North’s exclusive economic zone. , the area within 200 nautical miles of its territory where it controls the rights to natural resources. .
Kim said a US spy plane crossed the eastern sea border between the Koreas around 5 a.m. on Monday and conducted reconnaissance over the northern exclusive economic zone before being chased away by warplanes North Koreans. She said the US plane crossed the eastern sea border again around 8:50 a.m., prompting the North Korean military to issue an unspecified “strong warning” to the United States.
She said North Korea would take decisive action if the United States continued to fly reconnaissance planes over her country’s exclusive economic zone, but added that it “would not take countermeasures. direct action” for American reconnaissance activities outside the area.
“A shocking incident would occur in the long term in the 20-40 kilometer section in which US spy planes usually sneak into the skies over North Korea’s Economic Water Zone,” it said. she declared.
Kim’s comments come at a time of heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula as the pace of North Korean weapons testing and joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises have intensified. North Korea has tested nearly 100 missiles since the start of 2022 as Kim Jong Un builds up a nuclear arsenal he apparently sees as his best guarantee of survival.