-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- North Korea accused the United States and South Korea of sending spy planes on about 200 missions near the isolated communist nation ahead of a North Korea rocket launch scheduled for early April . Pyongyang claims reconnaissance aircraft , including the high-altitude U-2 spy plane , have flown spy missions . `` The U.S. imperialists and the South Korean puppet military warmongers perpetrated intensive aerial espionage against the DPRK -LRB- North Korea -RRB- in March by massively mobilizing strategic and tactical reconnaissance planes with various missions , '' a military source said , according to a report from North Korea 's state-run news service , KCNA , on Tuesday . Pyongyang said the United States committed 110 cases of `` aerial espionage and the South Korean puppet forces at least 80 cases , '' during March , KCNA reported . The source said the missions utilized six types of reconnaissance aircraft , including the high-altitude U-2 spy plane . `` The U.S. imperialist warmongers had better bear in mind that ... spy planes perpetrating espionage against the DPRK are within the range of its strikes . '' The Pentagon was not immediately available to comment on the story . The North Korean government says it will launch a commercial satellite atop a rocket sometime between April 4 and April 8 . Satellite imagery taken on Sunday appears to show a rocket at the Musudan-ri launch site in northeastern North Korea . U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday there is little doubt that the planned rocket launch is designed to bolster North Korea 's military capability . He also indicated that the U.S. military could be prepared to shoot down a North Korean missile if the rogue regime develops the capability to reach Hawaii or the western continental United States in a future launch . Watch analysis of Pyongyang 's planned rocket launch '' Both the United States and Japan have mobilized missile defense systems ahead of the launch . North Korea has threatened to start a war if Japan were to shoot down its rocket . Tokyo said the move is aimed at shooting down any debris from the launch that might fall into Japanese territory . U.S. Navy ships capable of shooting down ballistic missiles have been moved to the Sea of Japan , a Navy spokesman said . The United States generally has a number of ships equipped with powerful Aegis radar in the Sea of Japan because of North Korean threats to launch rockets . The ships are designed to track and , if needed , shoot down ballistic missiles . The United States has no plans to shoot down the North Korean rocket , U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last week , but will raise the issue with the U.N. Security Council if Pyongyang carries out a launch .