(LEAD) N. Korean leader's sister demands apology for drone incursion

▲ This undated file image captured from the website of the Korean Central News Agency shows Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

▲ This photo, carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on Jan. 10, 2026, shows what North Korea claimed was a drone sent by South Korea on Sept. 27, 2025. The North's military said it struck the drone with its electronic means to force it to fall in Jangphung County in the North's border city of Kaesong. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

(LEAD) NK leaders sister-S Korea

(LEAD) N. Korean leader's sister demands apology for drone incursion

(ATTN: UPDATES with more info throughout)

SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Yonhap) -- The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Tuesday demanded that South Korea admit and apologize for a provocation violating its sovereignty after Pyongyang blamed Seoul for drone incursions.

Kim Yo-jong made the demand in a statement following the North Korean military's claim last Saturday that Seoul sent drones carrying surveillance equipment across the border to the North in September and on Jan. 4, calling it a violation of its sovereignty.

"The Seoul authorities should admit and apologize for having violated the sovereignty of the DPRK and take a measure for preventing reoccurrence," Kim said in the statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the official name of North Korea.

Kim called the alleged sovereignty breach a "deed done by the enemy only."

She warned Seoul would be "forced to pay the price they cannot deal with," if such provocations are repeated.

"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," the KCNA quoted her as saying.

Kim, vice department director of the ruling party's Central Committee, also dismissed Seoul's pledge to continue efforts to ease tensions with Pyongyang as a "daydream," rejecting the possibility of improving inter-Korean relations.

"As far as Seoul's various hope-filled wild dreams called 'repair of DPRK-ROK relations' are concerned, they all can never come true," Kim said. "The present address of the DPRK-ROK relations can never change."

ROK is short of the Republic of Korea, South Korea's official name.

Earlier in the day, a unification ministry official assessed North Korea as leaving room for "communication," referring to Kim's previous statement.

In the statement Sunday, Kim said North Korea took note of Seoul's announcement raising the possibility that civilians may have been behind the drone incursions, while arguing that they, whether sent by the military or civilians, constituted a violation of the North's airspace and demanded an explanation.

After the North's Saturday claim of the drone incursions, the South Korean military denied sending the drones or operating the models found in the North, raising the possibility that civilians may have been behind them and pledging an investigation.

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