N. Korea Warns of Military Action over US-S. Korea Reconnaissance Activities Ahead of Trilateral Summit

North Korea has accused the United States and South Korea of infringing on the North’s national sovereignty with their reconnaissance activities, warning of a military response.

In a statement carried by the North’s state Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Sunday, North Korea’s vice defense minister Kim Gang-il criticized the aerial reconnaissance conducted by the United States and South Korean Air Forces and patrol activities by South Korea’s Navy and Coast Guard.

The vice minister reportedly said that the United States and South Korean puppet Air Forces are carrying out aerial reconnaissance activities at a level comparable to wartime situations, and South Korea’s Navy and Coast Guard are stepping up patrol activities and increasingly breaching the maritime border.

Denouncing these activities as “enemies’ provocation,” Kim warned that those activities will be met with “offensive” countermeasures, adding that the North will act immediately when the nation’s sovereignty and security interests are violated.

The criticism comes ahead of a trilateral summit of South Korea, China and Japan set for Monday in Seoul.

Pyongyang also criticized South Korean civic groups that send propaganda leaflets and vowed to take a countermeasure.