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NK fighters in rare surveillance flights over Sea of Japan
Wednesday, April 23, 2003 at 16:00 JST
SEOUL — A squadron of North Korean jet fighters launched rare long-distance flights to counter U.S. and Russian surveillance flights over the Sea of Japan, officials and reports said Wednesday.
South Korean Defense Minister Cho Young-Kil said North Korea mobilized 10 fighter jets for long-duration flights Sunday and Monday, an unusual move because the country's energy crisis had sharply limited such flights in the past.
A ministry spokesman quoted Cho as telling a National Assembly committee Tuesday: "Ten North Korean MiG-21s and MiG-23s launched long-distance navigation flight training Sunday and Monday."
The JoongAng Daily, a major newspaper in Seoul, said the North Korean air force was training to counter U.S. and Russian surveillance flights over the Sea of Japan.
An unidentified military official told JoongAng that North Korean fighters had flown hundreds of kilometers, staying in the air for up to 90 minutes.
North Korea has accused the United States of stepping up spy flights over the Stalinist state since a crisis erupted in October over Pyongyang's secret nuclear weapons program.
On March 2, four North Korean fighter jets scrambled to intercept a U.S. RC-135 reconnaissance plane at close range over the Sea of Japan.
Washington described the air confrontation as a dangerous provocation, while North Korea justified it as a defensive act.
North Korea says U.S. surveillance flights are aimed at monitoring its missile and other key military facilities. (Wire reports)
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&id=257723
What are these morons thinking??? Can NK defend it self against US led attack? Oh boy!!!
Wednesday, April 23, 2003 at 16:00 JST
SEOUL — A squadron of North Korean jet fighters launched rare long-distance flights to counter U.S. and Russian surveillance flights over the Sea of Japan, officials and reports said Wednesday.
South Korean Defense Minister Cho Young-Kil said North Korea mobilized 10 fighter jets for long-duration flights Sunday and Monday, an unusual move because the country's energy crisis had sharply limited such flights in the past.
A ministry spokesman quoted Cho as telling a National Assembly committee Tuesday: "Ten North Korean MiG-21s and MiG-23s launched long-distance navigation flight training Sunday and Monday."
The JoongAng Daily, a major newspaper in Seoul, said the North Korean air force was training to counter U.S. and Russian surveillance flights over the Sea of Japan.
An unidentified military official told JoongAng that North Korean fighters had flown hundreds of kilometers, staying in the air for up to 90 minutes.
North Korea has accused the United States of stepping up spy flights over the Stalinist state since a crisis erupted in October over Pyongyang's secret nuclear weapons program.
On March 2, four North Korean fighter jets scrambled to intercept a U.S. RC-135 reconnaissance plane at close range over the Sea of Japan.
Washington described the air confrontation as a dangerous provocation, while North Korea justified it as a defensive act.
North Korea says U.S. surveillance flights are aimed at monitoring its missile and other key military facilities. (Wire reports)
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&id=257723
What are these morons thinking??? Can NK defend it self against US led attack? Oh boy!!!