NK Threatens to Shoot Down Japanese Spy Planes

North Korea Saturday warned that it will shoot down any Japanese planes that intrude into its airspace, accusing Japan of snooping a site for missile launch earlier this week.

"A (Japanese) E-767 made a long shuttle flight from air above the waters east of Wonsan to the air above the waters east of Musudan after taking off from its base in Japan about 8:30 a.m. on June 25," Yonhap reported citing the North's Korean People's Army (KPA).

The KPA report claimed a Japanese surveillance aircraft had also conducted an aerial espionage mission on Wednesday.

Musudan was the site used for North Korea's long-range rocket launch in April that it claims was for a satellite.

"The air force of the Korean People's Army will not tolerate even a bit the aerial espionage by the warmongers of the Japanese aggression forces but mercilessly shoot down any plane intruding into the territorial air of the DPRK even 0.001 mm," KPA said.

North Korea is believed to be preparing to test launch yet another long-range missile from its east coast following its nuclear test on May 25.