North Korea Threatens To Shoot Down U.S. Aircraft

beijingwalker · Jul 10, 2023

North Korea Threatens To Shoot Down U.S. Aircraft

BY ELLIE COOK ON 7/10/23 AT 4:47 AM EDT

North Korea has warned that a U.S. spy plane could be shot down after Pyongyang claimed an American aircraft had repeatedly crossed into its airspace.

"A strategic reconnaissance plane of the U.S. Air Force illegally intruded into the inviolable airspace of the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] over its East Sea tens of kilometers several times," a defense ministry spokesperson told North Korean state media on Monday.

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," the spokesperson said in remarks published by the Korean Central News Agency. Seoul's military said on Monday that Pyongyang's airspace had not been violated, calling for an "immediate halt to acts that create tension through such false claims," according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

Pyongyang said the U.S. sending a nuclear submarine to the Korean peninsula had created a "very dangerous situation," bringing the region "closer to the threshold of nuclear conflict."

Newsweek has reached out to the Pentagon, U.S. Forces Korea, and the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command via email for comment.

Tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear program have escalated in the region in recent months, and the U.S. has participated in joint military drills with Seoul that included B-52 bomber aircraft. The military exercises came after North Korea renewed its attempts to launch a spy satellite.

In April, U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said the two nations "will expand and deepen coordination between our militaries," and that the U.S. would "further enhance the regular visibility of strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula."

In mid-June, the Ohio-class USS Michigan arrived in the South Korean port of Busan. It is one of the largest nuclear submarines in the world, carrying Tomahawk missiles, and the U.S. said its presence "reflects the United States' commitment to the Indo-Pacific region."

In its statement on Monday, North Korea said the "U.S. attempt to introduce strategic nuclear weapons into the Korean peninsula is the most undisguised nuclear blackmail against the DPRK and its neighboring countries," calling this a "grave threat and challenge to the regional and global peace and security."

"The U.S. will surely have to pay a dear price for its provocative air espionage," North Korea's defense ministry added. It then repeated comments Pyongyang has previously made, accusing the U.S. of "nuclear blackmail."

In comments published by the Associated Press on Monday, South Korean leader Yoon said now was the "time to clearly demonstrate that the international community's determination to deter North Korea's nuclear weapons program is stronger than North Korea's desire to develop nuclear weapons."