U.S. spy plane flies over S. Korea amid heightened tensions

SEOUL, A U.S. reconnaissance aircraft flew over South Korea on Tuesday in an apparent mission to monitor North Korea, aviation trackers showed, amid heightened tensions over North Korea's continued weapons tests. The U.S. Air Force's RC-135U Combat Sent was spotted flying over the Yellow Sea, South Korea's northern provinces of Gyeonggi and Gangwon, and the East Sea after taking off from Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, according to multiple flight trackers. The RC-135U collects and examines foreign military land, naval and airborne radar signals to locate and identify them, according to the U.S. Air Force. The aircraft's deployment came in the wake of Pyongyang's spate of weapons tests this year, including its claimed "cruise missile super-large warhead power test" on Friday. Last month, a U.S. RC-135W Rivet Joint was spotted flying over South Korea after the North's claimed test of an underwater nuclear attack drone. Source: Yonhap News Agency