North seemingly reinforces stance on two hostile states following alleged drone incursion from South
Published: 12 Jan. 2026, 12:31
![Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, attends a wreath-laying ceremony at Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi, Vietnam, on March 2, 2019. [AP/YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/01/12/a1fee345-6901-4a9b-a7bb-d034bbba7b90.jpg)
Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, attends a wreath-laying ceremony at Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi, Vietnam, on March 2, 2019. [AP/YONHAP]
Analysts say Kim Yo-jong’s latest remarks on an alleged drone incursion are aimed at reinforcing North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s stance on maintaining two separate states, effectively dismissing the Lee Jae Myung administration’s conciliatory gestures as insincere while laying the groundwork to justify a future response.
Kim Yo-jong, the deputy department director of North Korea’s Workers’ Party, lashed out at Seoul on Saturday and demanded an explanation for what Pyongyang deemed a border violation and warning it could respond militarily.
“I, personally, appreciate that the ROK Ministry of Defence took a wise choice for survival when it made public its official stand never to provoke or irritate us,” she said in a statement titled “The ROK authorities cannot evade their responsibility for the grave violation of our sovereignty,” released on Saturday. ROK is short for the Republic of Korea, South Korea's official name.
“If the ROK opts for provocation against us again in the future, it will never be able to deal with the terrible consequences to be entailed by it.”
She then pressed Seoul for a clearer account of the incident: “A detailed explanation should be made about the actual case of a drone that crossed the southern border of our Republic from the ROK.”
Earlier Saturday, the general staff of the Korean People’s Army claimed via state media that South Korea, “a group of hooligans who stunned the world by causing an incident in which their drone violated the airspace of Pyongyang in October 2024, committed another grave infringement upon the sovereignty of the DPRK by making its drone violate the DPRK's airspace from the outset of the year.” The DPRK is the acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
North Korea’s decision to push the drone issue aggressively from the start of the year is widely seen as a signal that it has no intention of accepting President Lee Jae Myung’s reconciliation attempts. Observers say Pyongyang also appears to be closely watching how improving South Korea-China ties could affect North Korea-China or North Korea-U.S. relations.
![Kim Yo-jong, the vice department director of the Workers’ Party of Korea [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/01/12/56f42c25-f3b6-4ae8-a747-28663608126b.jpg)
Kim Yo-jong, the vice department director of the Workers’ Party of Korea [NEWS1]
Lee previously made a state visit to China, asking Chinese President Xi Jinping to play a “mediating” role on the Korean Peninsula.
Kim Yo-jong also reiterated North Korea’s hostile view of South Korea. “Anyhow, the recent drone infiltration helped us to have clearer understanding of the ROK,” she said.
“Which regime committed the case is a matter of debate within the same family,” she added. “To us, the case is a grave infringement upon the DPRK's inviolable sovereignty committed by the ROK, no matter whether Yoon or Ree did,” referring to former President Yoon Suk Yeol and President Lee.
“The government once again confirms it has no intention of provoking or stimulating the North and will continue practical efforts to ease inter-Korean tensions and build trust,” said the National Security Office of the Blue House on Sunday.
The presidential office said the same day that it would “determine the facts through a joint military-police investigation following the military's initial probe and would promptly disclose the results.”
![This photo, carried by the North's state-controlled Korean Central News Agency on Jan. 10, shows what North Korea claims is a drone sent by South Korea on Sept. 27, 2025. The North's military said it struck the drone with electronic means, forcing it to fall in Jangphung County in the North's border city of Kaesong. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/01/12/acfaeacf-03c5-4dd5-8743-e284f01edd23.jpg)
This photo, carried by the North's state-controlled Korean Central News Agency on Jan. 10, shows what North Korea claims is a drone sent by South Korea on Sept. 27, 2025. The North's military said it struck the drone with electronic means, forcing it to fall in Jangphung County in the North's border city of Kaesong. [YONHAP]
Addressing claims that the drones may have been operated by civilians, Kim Yo-jong said, “The essence of the situation lies not in whether its manipulator is from the military or civilians.”
The remark was widely interpreted as a threat that Pyongyang could also send drones or other objects southward under the banner of “civilians,” echoing past incidents involving garbage-carrying balloons.
North Korea has framed the incident as a kind of reconnaissance operation, raising the level of its militaristic rhetoric.
Kim Yo-jong pointedly questioned Seoul’s account of what was found on the drone. “It is undeniable that video data collected by the drone are related to the uranium mine and its settling pond, the former Kaesong industrial zone and our border guard posts, which they may have interest in,” she said. “Furthermore, there actually existed the flight plan and records in the drone. This requires explicit explanation.”
“North Korea appears to be treating the drone case as a strategic issue tied to the two hostile states narrative, using it domestically to bolster internal unity by justifying its nuclear status and stoking anti-South sentiment,” said Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY CHUNG YEONG-GYO,YOON JI-WON [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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