On Friday, North Korea vowed a “terrible response” if it found any more drones buzzing from the South over the border.
Since assuming office last year, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has worked to mend fences with North Korea, denouncing his predecessor for reportedly using drones to disseminate propaganda over Pyongyang.
However, North Korea says that just last month it destroyed a surveillance drone, a move that could jeopardize Lee’s attempts to mend fences.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s influential sister, Kim Yo Jong, threatened dire consequences if the drones continued.
In a statement released by Pyongyang’s official Korea Central News Agency, Kim stated, “I give advance warning that reoccurrence of such provocation as violating the inalienable sovereignty of the DPRK will surely provoke a terrible response.”
Using the abbreviation for North Korea’s official name, she continued, “We don’t care who the very manipulator of the drone infiltration into the DPRK’s airspace is and whether it is an individual or a civilian organization.”
At first, Seoul denied any official role in the drone invasion in January, claiming citizens were responsible.
However, a joint military-police task team declared earlier this week that it was looking into one spy agency employee and three active-duty troops in an attempt to “thoroughly establish the truth.”
Earlier this week, Chung Dong-young, Seoul’s minister of unification, expressed “deep regret.”
Lee’s attempts to defuse the situation with Pyongyang would be undermined by any official participation in the drone invasion in January.
Chung has previously hinted that government employees who are still loyal to former hardline leader Yoon Suk Yeol might have been responsible for the drone.
Chung’s accommodative comments were deemed “quite sensible behavior” by Kim Yo Jong.
In response to Kim’s remarks, South Korea’s ministry of unification promised to “immediately implement preventative measures to prevent similar incidents from recurring.”
The statement stated, “Whenever the chance presents itself, we have reaffirmed three principles — acknowledging and honoring the system of the other side, abstaining from any hostile acts, and not pursuing unification by absorption.”
The phrase “important targets”
Yang Moo-jin, the former head of the University of North Korean Studies, told AFP that Pyongyang is “closely monitoring the latest developments in the South Korean side” in reference to Kim Yo Jong’s statement.
According to a statement released by the state-run KCNA, the North Korean military shot down a drone in early January that was carrying “surveillance equipment.”
The wreckage of a winged craft was seen in photographs strewn over the ground adjacent to a group of blue and gray parts that were purportedly cameras.
According to a military spokeswoman at the time, the drone had recorded footage of “important targets,” including border regions.
In 2024, Yoon Suk Yeol, the disgraced former president of South Korea, was charged with distributing propaganda leaflets over North Korea with unmanned drones.
By putting an end to such provocations, Lee has pledged to repair relations with North Korea and even hinted that a rare apology might be in order.
Recent exemptions permitting new supplies of food and medicine to enter North Korea were accepted by a UN Security Council committee.
According to analysts, this might serve as a catalyst for attempts to entice Pyongyang to engage in nuclear talks with US President Donald Trump.
At the end of February, North Korea is getting ready to host a historic party congress.
The country’s foreign policy, war preparations, and nuclear aspirations for the next five years will be outlined at the political showcase, which is normally held only once every five years.
