South Korean group floats leaflets across North Korean border despite warnings

Activists in South Korea went ahead with a plan to airlift propaganda leaflets over its shared border with North Korea this week despite growing tensions over the campaign.

The Associated Press reported that the group, which is led by North Korean defectors, launched leaflets by balloon from the border town of Paju on Monday. The campaign reportedly involved a half-million messages, delivered by about 20 balloons.

“Though North Korean residents have become modern-day slaves with no basic rights, don’t they have the right to know the truth?” said Park Sang-hak, the leader of the organization, according to the AP.

His campaign, he added, was “a struggle for justice for the sake of liberation” of his home country.

North Korean officials moved to cut off diplomatic contact with South Korea in recent weeks because of the leaflet distribution, and a top official warned of the possibility of military action as relations have declined.

“Getting stronger day by day are the unanimous voices of all our people demanding for surely settling accounts with the riff-raff who dared hurt the absolute prestige of our Supreme Leader representing our country and its great dignity and flied rubbish to the inviolable territory of our side and with those who connived at such hooliganism, whatever may happen,” said Kim Yo Jong, sister to Kim Jong Un and first vice department director of the ruling Workers’ Party’s Central Committee.

South Korean officials, meanwhile, announced earlier this month that charges would be filed against the North Korean defectors for future leaflet drops.

“The [Republic of Korea Government] carried out measures to suspend the act of flying leaflets to the North on numerous occasions, taking note that such action can raise tensions in the border area,” read a press release from South Korea’s government. “Such action of distributing leaflets should be ceased as it not only poses a risk to the lives and property of our nationals living in the border area, but also hinders inter-Korean quarantine cooperation.”