Seoul: North Korea takes note of South Korea's announcement that its military has not been involved in recent drone incursions, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said in a statement released Sunday. According to Yonhap News Agency, Kim Yo-jong, vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, addressed the issue in a statement dated the previous day. She highlighted that the ROK Ministry of Defence emphasized the recent drone infiltration was not a military operation and expressed its intention to investigate the incident as potentially involving civilian parties. The response from North Korea followed Seoul's denial of Pyongyang's previous claim that drones were sent across the border to North Korea in September and on January 4, violating the North's sovereignty. This denial raised the possibility that private entities might have been responsible for the drone operations. The defense ministry in Seoul reiterated that it has no intention of provoking or irritating Pyongyang, committing to ongoing efforts to reduce tensions. Kim Yo-jong acknowledged this, expressing personal appreciation for what she described as a "wise choice for survival" by the South Korean Ministry of Defence in making its official stance public.