Seoul, Feb 13 (EFE). - North Korea warned Seoul of a 'harsh response' if there are new drone incursions from the South, state agency KCNA reported on Friday, days after South Korean authorities searched intelligence offices to investigate alleged infiltrations. 'If provocations that violate sovereignty are repeated, a harsh response will be inevitable,' Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said in a statement. North Korea has accused its southern neighbor of violating its sovereignty by sending drones into its airspace last September and again on January 4. Although Seoul had previously denied any official involvement in these operations, authorities are now investigating both civilians and active-duty soldiers, as well as an employee of the National Intelligence Service (NIS). A joint police and army investigation team inspected several locations last Tuesday, the same day South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young expressed regret over the incident. Kim Yo-jong called the South Korean minister's reaction a 'relatively sensible measure,' the first of its kind since Pyongyang denounced the incidents. 'However, South Korean authorities should not try to downplay the crisis they have caused with mere expressions of regret, but should devise measures to ensure that serious violations of sovereignty are not repeated,' she said, according to the statement picked up by KCNA. The statement from the North Korean leader's sister comes before Pyongyang holds a key congress at the end of the month, where the regime is expected to unveil its defense and foreign policy plans for the next five years. Much of the international attention will also be focused on whether Kim's daughter, believed to be around 12 years old and named Kim Ju-ae, will accompany her father to the event. Her increasingly frequent presence at official events has raised expectations that the leader is considering her as his successor, South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) emphasized on Thursday.
