Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, demanded that South Korea apologize for alleged drone incursions violating Pyongyang's sovereignty. Seoul has denied military involvement and launched an investigation into possible civilian origins, while pledging corresponding actions based on findings. Both sides have called for restored dialogue amid efforts to ease tensions.
On January 14, 2026, Kim Yo-jong, vice department director of the North Korean ruling party's Central Committee and sister of leader Kim Jong-un, issued a statement demanding that South Korea admit and apologize for drone incursions that violated Pyongyang's sovereignty. North Korea's military claimed on Saturday that Seoul sent surveillance-equipped drones across the border in September 2025 and on January 4, 2026. In the statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim said, "The Seoul authorities should admit and apologize for having violated the sovereignty of the DPRK and take a measure for preventing reoccurrence."
She described the alleged breach as a "deed done by the enemy only" and warned that Seoul would be "forced to pay the price they cannot deal with" if provocations continue. Kim added, "Our reaction to the infringement on sovereignty and our will to defend the sovereignty will not be confined to the proportional response or announcement of our position." Dismissing Seoul's pledges to ease tensions as a "daydream," she stated, "As far as Seoul's various hope-filled wild dreams called 'repair of DPRK-ROK relations' are concerned, they all can never come true. The present address of the DPRK-ROK relations can never change."
In response, South Korea's Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said on January 14 during a policy briefing that the government would "take corresponding action" after an ongoing military-police investigation, which includes the possibility of civilian involvement. Seoul's military has denied sending the drones or operating the models found in the North. Chung described Pyongyang's back-to-back messages on the issue, delivered via media rather than inter-Korean channels, as "extremely unnatural and abnormal," and urged, "I hope the severed inter-Korean contact networks and channels could be restored at the earliest date possible and dialogue can be resumed."
Chung also signaled that Seoul may apologize for military drones dispatched to North Korea in 2024 under the previous Yoon Suk Yeol administration, pending a court ruling. Former President Yoon is on trial for allegedly benefiting the enemy by sending those drones to provoke Pyongyang and justify martial law. This comes as North Korea previously expressed regret for shooting a South Korean official in the Yellow Sea in 2020. A unification ministry official noted that Pyongyang's statements leave room for communication.
