State media KCNA on February 13 reported that Ms. Kim Yo Jong - younger sister of North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un - declared that South Korea needs to take measures to prevent the recurrence of actions that Pyongyang calls "provocative sovereignty violations", related to a drone flying into the country's airspace recently.
According to KCNA, Ms. Kim Yo Jong highly appreciated the statement of South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong Young, who expressed regret about the incident. She said that this was a "reasonable action".
Previously, Mr. Chung Dong Young spoke at a local church and expressed "deep regret" about a drone controlled by a South Korean individual entering North Korean airspace, according to Yonhap news agency.
Ms. Kim Yo Jong said that Mr. Chung's statement was "lucky", and affirmed that Pyongyang does not care about aircraft made by any individual or civil organization.
On the South Korean side, President Lee Jae Myung, who pursues a reconciliation approach with Pyongyang, said in January that there seems to be a loophole in the surveillance system to detect unmanned aerial vehicles operated by civilians.
South Korea's Ministry of Unification on February 13 announced that the drone incident went against the principle of peaceful coexistence with North Korea. Seoul affirmed that it will make efforts to prevent any recurrence.
New developments show that the incident is being closely monitored by both sides, in the context that inter-Korean relations still contain many sensitive factors.
