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| ▲ 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 electronic means to force it to fall in the county of Jangphung in the North's border city of Kaesong. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ Unification ministry spokesperson Yoon Min-ho speaks during a press briefing in Seoul on Jan. 12, 2026. (Yonhap) |
N Korea-drone incursions
Seoul reaffirms continued efforts to ease tensions with Pyongyang amid drone incursion claim
SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Yonhap) -- The government will continue efforts to ease tensions and build trust with North Korea despite Pyongyang's recent claim accusing Seoul of carrying out drone incursions into the country, the unification ministry said Monday.
Unification ministry spokesperson Yoon Min-ho made the remarks after President Lee Jae Myung ordered last week the creation of a joint military-police investigation team to look into the alleged drone incursions.
On Sunday, Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, demanded that Seoul provide a detailed explanation, a day after the North Korean military claimed that the South violated the North's sovereignty by sending drones carrying surveillance equipment in September and on Jan. 4.
"It's important to continue efforts to alleviate tensions and build trust between the South and the North through prompt truth-finding by the investigation team," the spokesperson said in a press briefing.
Yoon also reaffirmed Seoul's stance that it has no intention of provoking or irritating North Korea.
The South Korean military has denied sending the drones on the dates claimed by the North or operating the models found in the North, raising the possibility that they may have been flown by private entities.
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