North Korea shows rare civility toward South after President Lee expresses regret over drones

North Korea signaled a rare positive turn toward South Korea as its leader, Kim Jong-un, responded favorably to President Lee Jae Myung’s expression of regret over civilian drones from the South that were illegally launched into North Korea.

Experts say the response is unusually conciliatory for North Korea, which treats the South as an enemy under its “two hostile states.” It is, however, limited to acknowledging the South’s expression of regret over the drone incident involving three individuals who illegally flew drones into North Korea between September 2025 and January 2026.

The official statement was delivered late Monday through Kim Yo-jong, a department director of North Korea’s ruling party.

“The ROK president personally expressed regret and talked about a measure for preventing recurrence. Our government appreciated it as a very fortunate and wise behavior for its own sake,”  she said in a statement according to the Korean Central News Agency. “Our head of state commented on it as a manifestation of a frank and broad-minded man’s attitude.”

ROK is the acronym for the Republic of Korea, South Korea’s official name.

Earlier the same day, Lee had expressed regret over the illegal drone flights, saying that the acts caused unnecessary military tension with Pyongyang.

Relations between the two Koreas showed particular strain late last year, as Kim Jong-un rejected the Lee administration’s proposal for inter-Korean dialogue, including the South’s phased denuclearization plan for the Korean Peninsula.

“It is nothing more than a copied version transcribed from the ‘homework notebooks’ of predecessors who dreamed of our disarmament,” Kim Jong-un  had called it in a September speech of the Supreme People’s Assembly.

North Korea’s newest statement marks a positive shift from that stance. However, Kim Yo-jong still struck a firm tone on Monday.

“For its own security, the ROK side should stop any reckless provocation against the DPRK and refrain from any attempt at contact, instead of paying lip-service to the utmost importance of peace and security,” she said. “The ROK side should be mindful that it will be forced to pay a price too much for it, as already warned, if such a provocation as violating the inalienable sovereignty of our state occurs again.” The DPRK is the acronym for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.  

Some experts interpret the response as North Korea selectively responding to issues that work in its favor while attempting to influence the South’s behavior, noting that Kim Yo-jong also issued two earlier statements, both positive, in immediate response when Unification Minister Chung Dong-young similarly expressed regret over a civilian drone infiltration into North Korea in February.

“North Korea’s latest statement indirectly reveals Kim Jong-un’s reaction to President Lee’s expression of regret while also signaling its intent to lead the order on the Korean Peninsula,” Lim Eul-chul, professor at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies, told the JoongAng Ilbo. “In particular, the part stating that any attempts at contact should be abandoned can be read as reiterating the ‘hostile two-state’ stance.”

A presidential office official, on the other hand, expressed a more hopeful view.

“We hope that the swift mutual confirmation of intentions between the leaders of the two Koreas will contribute to peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula,” the official told the JoongAng Ilbo. “The government will continue efforts toward peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula.”

BY LEE U-JUNG, CHUNG YEONG-GYO [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]