The threat is clear. North Korea said Monday it would shoot down U.S. spy planes that violate its airspace. According to a spokesman for the North Korean Defense Ministry, the United States has "intensified its espionage activities beyond war level." In particular, he mentioned several flights in July, described as "provocative", carried out over eight consecutive days.
A reconnaissance plane, he said, also entered North Korea's airspace over the Sea of Japan "several times." In a statement quoted by the state-run KCNA news agency, the spokesman warned of the risk of an "accident" that could have resulted from such action, such as the "downing of the US Air Force's strategic reconnaissance aircraft" in the Sea of Japan.
The spokesman referred to previous incidents, in which Pyongyang has already shot down US planes. He also warned Washington that its espionage activities would not be without consequences.
A ballistic missile submarine soon deployed?
The statement also condemned the planned U.S. deployment of strategic assets to South Korea, with Pyongyang calling it "the least covert nuclear blackmail" of North Korea, and saying it posed a serious threat to regional and global security.
Washington, in accordance with a statement signed in April with Seoul, said a ballistic missile submarine would make its first berthing in South Korea in decades, without specifying the date.
VIDEO. North Korea's missile launches: Pyongyang benefits from the "trivialization" of its tests
Relations between the two Koreas are at an all-time low. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called Pyongyang's status as a nuclear power "irreversible" last year, and called for further development of weapons, including tactical nuclear weapons. This year, North Korea conducted a series of weapons tests despite sanctions, including testing its most powerful intercontinental ballistic missiles.
In response, Seoul and Washington promised that Pyongyang would face nuclear retaliation and the "end" of its current government if it decided to use nuclear weapons against them.