According to a report from the Korean Central News Agency on October 13, Kim Yo-jong, the Deputy Director of the Workers’ Party of Korea, spoke out regarding North Korea’s claims that a South Korean drone invaded its airspace and dropped leaflets. In her comments made on October 12, she stated that “the South Korean military cannot evade responsibility in this significant violation of sovereignty, either as the principal instigator or as an accomplice.”

Kim Yo-jong strongly condemned the South Korean military for attempting to shirk responsibility. “Deploying drones to drop leaflets over the capital of another country is, by itself, a serious political provocation and infringement of sovereignty, and the use of a drone is central to the severity of this incident,” she emphasized.

In her remarks, she highlighted that drones serve as multi-purpose military tools. She warned that actions by one country’s citizens using drones to violate another’s sovereignty could provoke a crisis of armed conflict, particularly if the military remains passive in the face of such provocations, which amounts to a willful acknowledgment or complicity.

Furthermore, Kim Yo-jong issued a stark warning that if South Korean drones were to drop anti-North Korean leaflets again and breach North Korean airspace, the North would take “powerful retaliatory measures.” This, she explained, is an exercise of the self-defense rights of a sovereign nation.

On October 11, the North Korean Foreign Ministry released a statement accusing South Korea of using drones to infiltrate Pyongyang on October 3, 9, and 10, dropping numerous anti-North propaganda leaflets. They characterized this as an egregious provocation that cannot be overlooked or forgiven.

In response, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Dong-hyun stated on the same day that the South Korean military had not launched any drones toward North Korea and that the specifics of the incident were still unclear and under investigation. Officials from the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff also stated that they needed to confirm whether the drone was launched by civilian groups within South Korea.