Kim Yo-jong, the sister of the North Korean leader Kim Jong UnWashington issued a serious warning this Monday of “aerial espionage” operations that U.S. aircraft are said to have been conducting over the waters of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) off the east coast of that Asian country in recent days.
In a statement published by state news agency KCNA, Kim said that at around 5 a.m. local time today (Sunday 8 p.m. GMT), “a U.S. Air Force strategic reconnaissance aircraft again conducted aerial reconnaissance of the eastern portion of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (official name of the country) as the air penetrates above the EEZ above the Military Demarcation Line (MDL)”.
The UN defines the EEZ as the waters extending up to 200 nautical miles (about 370 kilometers) from the coasts of a country, which has the right to explore and exploit them, while airspace is usually linked to territorial waters, which they reaches. up to 12 nautical miles (about 22 kilometers) from the coast.
According to Kim, the plane, which “withdrew before the departure of the Korean People’s Army Air Force,” recrossed the MDL — which cuts through both the Korean peninsula and surrounding waters — heading north again around 8:50 a.m. local time (23:00 GMT). 50 GMT). on Sunday).
The device, he added, “performed the serious military provocation by conducting aerial reconnaissance” over North Korea’s EEZ waters, up to some 400 kilometers from the country’s southeastern coast.
Kim’s message comes hours later In another statement, the regime accused Washington of violating its airspace by flying a strategic reconnaissance aircraft.
Kim insisted that the US actions are “clearly a grave violation of North Korean sovereignty and security.”
The leader’s sister, who is the regime’s deputy propaganda director, warned that Pyongyang would respond with “clear and resounding actions” if a US plane flew over its EEZ waters again.
In 1969, the regime shot down an EC-121 American reconnaissance aircraft that may have been flying over the EEZ, killing all 31 people on board.
After the failure of denuclearization negotiations in 2019, tensions on the Korean peninsula have risen again.
Pyongyang has rejected all offers of dialogue and conducted a record number of missile tests, and Seoul and Washington have resumed major joint exercises and regularly deployed US strategic assets to the region.
Source: Eluniverso
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