North Korea yesterday threatened “terrible response” if it detects any more drones buzzing across the border from the South.
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has sought to repair ties with North Korea since taking office last year, criticizing his predecessor for allegedly sending drones to scatter propaganda over Pyongyang.
North Korea said it shot down a surveillance drone just last month, an incident which threatens to blight Lee’s efforts to patch things up.
Photo: KCNA via Reuters
Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, warned of severe repercussions if the drones did not stop.
“I give advance warning that reoccurrence of such provocation as violating the inalienable sovereignty of the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] will surely provoke a terrible response,” Kim Yo-jong said. “We don’t care who the very manipulator of the drone infiltration into the airspace of the DPRK is and whether it is an individual or a civilian organization.”
Seoul initially denied any official involvement in last month’s drone incursion, with officials suggesting it was the work of civilians.
A joint military-police task force announced earlier this week it was investigating three active-duty soldiers and one spy agency staffer in an effort to “thoroughly establish the truth.”
South Korean Minister of Unification Chung Dong-young expressed “deep regret” earlier this week.
Any government involvement in the drone incursion would run counter to Lee’s efforts to lower the temperature with North Korea.
Chung has previously suggested the drone might have been the work of government staffers still loyal to former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol.
Kim Yo-jong said Chung’s conciliatory remarks were “quite sensible behavior.”
South Korea’s Ministry of Unification responded to Kim Yo-jong’s statement, vowing to “immediately implement preventative measures to prevent similar incidents from recurring.”
“Whenever the opportunity arises, we have reaffirmed three principles — recognizing and respecting the other side’s system, refraining from any hostile acts, and not seeking unification by absorption,” it said.
Kim Yo-jong’s statement suggested that North Korea is “closely monitoring the latest developments in the South Korean side,” University of North Korean Studies former president Yang Moo-jin said.
The North Korean military had downed a drone carrying “surveillance equipment,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency said.
Photos showed the wreckage of a winged craft scattered across the ground next to a collection of gray and blue components that allegedly included cameras.
The drone had stored footage of “important targets” including border areas, a military spokesman said at the time.
Yoon was accused of using unmanned drones to scatter propaganda leaflets over North Korea in 2024.
Lee has vowed to mend ties with North Korea by stamping out such provocations, and has even suggested a rare apology might be warranted.
A UN Security Council committee recently approved exemptions allowing fresh flows of food and medicine into North Korea.
Analysts said this could kickstart efforts to lure Pyongyang into nuclear negotiations with US President Donald Trump.
North Korea is preparing to hold a landmark party congress at the end of this month.
The political showcase — typically held just once every five years — would lay out the nation’s foreign policy, war planning and nuclear ambitions for the next five years.
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