Pyongyang (North Korea): North Korea has accused the United States of illegally flying over the economic zone eight times and warned of counter-action, state media Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Tuesday.
Kim Yo Jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister and a key ruling party official, in a press statement said, "In case of repeated illegal intrusion, the US forces will experience a very critical flight."
She also claimed that South Korea had again impudently taken the lead in denying the encroachment on North Korea's sovereignty and still the nation assert that it was a "normal flight of the 'ROK' and the US."
"The strategic reconnaissance plane of the U.S. Air Force illegally intruded into the economic water zone of the DPRK side in the East Sea of Korea eight times in the sky above the sea of 435 km east of Thongchon of Kangwon Province~276 km southeast of Uljin of North Kyongsang Province from 5:15 to 13:10 on July 10, to commit an aerial espionage act," Kim Yo Jong said.
The Pentagon earlier brushed aside Pyongyang's accusations of airspace violations and said the US military had adhered to international law, reported KCNA.
"The United States, as always, remains committed to safely and responsibly flying, sailing, and operating anywhere that international law allows and alongside our allies and partners," Sabrina Singh, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary said in a media briefing.
"I just don't have anything more to say on those comments or those threats coming out of North Korea. We operate responsibly and safely in international waterways and -- and airspaces wherever -- wherever we can," she added. Earlier, on Monday, Kim Yo Jong, vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), issued the following press statement against the US, according to KCNA.
"A spokesman for the Ministry of National Defence of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) this morning sent a serious warning to the U.S. forces' worrying air espionage acts which have recently and seriously encroached upon the sovereignty, security and interests of the DPRK," the statement read.
"Great irony is that the South Korean puppet military group quickly denied the US forces' serious infringement upon the sovereignty of the DPRK," the statement added. She also stated that the drill started around 5 am when a strategic reconnaissance plane of the US Air Force again conducted aerial reconnaissance of the eastern part of the DPRK while intruding into the sky above the economic water zone beyond the military demarcation line in sea waters of the DPRK side in the sky over the waters more than 270 km east of Uljin ~ 430 km east of Thongchon. —ANI
