North Korea has accused the United States of violating its airspace with reconnaissance aircraft and has warned that it may shoot them down in the future. North Korea claims that US surveillance aircraft flew over waters east and west of the Korean Peninsula between July 2 and July 9 to conduct "provocative aerial espionage," according to a statement from the country's Defense Ministry. North Korea specifically mentioned the crewed RC-135 and unmanned RQ-4 Global Hawk as the aircraft that violated its airspace. The statement from North Korea's Defense Ministry warned that the US would have to pay a dear price for its actions and that there is no guarantee that US aircraft would not be shot down.

South Korea's military denies North Korea's claims and describes their joint aerial reconnaissance with the US as routine. The US Forces Korea has not yet responded to the accusation.

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