North Korea has threatened to shoot down US spy planes it accuses of violating its airspace, as South Korea’s president prepares to urge Nato countries to demonstrate their willingness to deter nuclear aggression from Pyongyang.
Accusing the US of conducting “hostile espionage activities” by flying military reconnaissance planes off the eastern and western coasts of the Korean peninsula, an unnamed North Korean defence ministry official said Pyongyang was ready to respond to Washington’s “reckless acts”.
“There is no guarantee that such a shocking accident as the downing of a US Air Force strategic reconnaissance plane will not happen,” the official said, according to North Korea’s state news agency on Monday.