SEOUL, April 10. /TASS/. A US reconnaissance aircraft flew over the Korean peninsula amid fears of a provocation after North Korea failed to respond to regular calls for a fourth consecutive day, Yonhap reported on Monday.
A US Boeing RC-135V Rivet Joint departed from Okinawa, Japan, for a flight above the Yellow Sea, the Seoul metropolitan area and other parts of the peninsula, according to the news agency.
North Korean officials stopped liaison calls with South or inter-Korean military lines on April 7. South Korea was unsuccessful in making contact through its military channels last weekend, and the North did not respond to calls from either channel on Monday.
Though flights by US reconnaissance planes are not uncommon in the region, this one drew Yonhap’s attention because of North Korea’s silence.
The images posted on Twitter show that the plane flew from west to east and then back across the Korean peninsula, along the military demarcation line at a significant distance from it. According to the posts, the flight was conducted on Monday morning.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry reported on Monday what it said was Pyongyang’s "unilateral cut-off" of contact with Seoul. Spokesman Koo Byoung-sam said the government was weighing a response and would soon announce its official position.
Some experts said North Korea might be expressing its protest against the US and South Korea’s joint military drills and the political pressure from Seoul over the human rights situation in the DPRK.