Pyongyang threatens US spy planes monitoring rocket

North Korea’s war of words ratcheted up on Wednesday when a statement broadcast on the country's state radio threatened to shoot down US spy planes monitoring a rocket that is scheduled to take off between April 4-8.North Korea threatened Wednesday to shoot down any US spy planes if they violate its airspace to monitor an imminent rocket launch, in a statement carried by state radio.The warning followed accusations Tuesday that US planes had stepped up flights over a northeastern region where the North is preparing to launch the rocket.The North has said it would launch a communications satellite some time between April 4-8. The United States, South Korea and Japan say this is a cover for a long-range ballistic missile test.On Wednesday the North's Korean Central Broadcasting Station denounced US spy planes for monitoring launch preparations."Should the US imperialist racketeers dare to intrude espionage planes into our territorial sky, interfering with our preparations for a satellite launch for peaceful purposes, our revolutionary forces will shoot them down unsparingly," it said.The North has regularly published its count of spy flights by South Korea and the United States.