North Korea says South Korea’s Lee is ‘wise’ for expressing regret about drones
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South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said the incidents were carried out by civilians violating government policy.
PHOTO: REUTERS
SEOUL – North Korea said on April 6 it was “very fortunate and wise” for South Korean President Lee Jae Myung to convey regret to Pyongyang for drone incursions, in a rare conciliatory gesture towards the rival it had antagonised in recent years.
Mr Lee earlier on April 6 expressed regret over at least two incidents of drone incursions across the border that he said had been carried out by civilians violating government policy, calling it an act of “revolt” against their own country.
Pyongyang has said that drones sent from the South had violated its airspace, accusing Seoul of a serious provocation and saying it had shot them down.
“Our government appreciated it as a very fortunate and wise behaviour for its own sake,” North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s influential sister Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by KCNA state news agency, referring to Mr Lee’s remarks.
North Korean leader Kim considered it “a manifestation of a frank and broad-minded man’s attitude”, she said. Ms Kim often makes comments on Pyongyang’s external policy matters, believed to reflect her brother’s views.
The comments were in stark contrast to the scathing attacks by Pyongyang in recent years against what it called its “most hostile enemy” with which it could no longer pursue a goal of eventual unification.
The two Koreas remain technically in a state of war after their 1950 to 1953 armed conflict ended in a truce.
Mr Lee said an investigation found that a National Intelligence Service employee and an active-duty military official were involved in the drone incidents, adding that they violated South Korea’s Constitution that forbids acts of provocation against North Korea.
“Although it was not our government’s intention, we express our regret to the North over the fact that unnecessary military tensions were caused by the irresponsible and reckless actions of some individuals,” Mr Lee said in a Cabinet meeting.
Mr Lee has made several overtures to the North since taking office in June 2025 to improve ties, which had plunged to among the worst in decades, saying peace was the best policy for both sides to achieve prosperity. REUTERS
