South Korean activists said Thursday they had resumed sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets and other materials via balloons across the inter-Korean border amid North Korea’s protests.
Anti-North Korea activist Park Sang-hak said that he launched balloons on Wednesday carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets and DVDs of the U.S. movie “The Interview,” a U.S. fictional comedy about a plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
“Last night, other activists and I flew anti-Pyongyang leaflets to the North that I was supposed to send last week,” Park said. “I will continue to fly leaflets to the North.”
Park made an attempt to do so last week, but was scuttled by police.
The move to resume the leaflet campaign is a departure from his earlier pledge to suspend it amid growing North Korean military threats and worsening public opinion against his plans here.
North Korea has criticized activists in South Korea for sending such anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets, vowing to take revenge against the move. Seoul activists’ leaflet campaign has been one of the main sources of tension between the two Koreas.
Lee Min-bok, another leading activist, also began to send such leaflets and copies of the U.S. movie in early April.
North Korea has reacted angrily to the resumed campaign, saying the move is tantamount to a declaration of war.
In October last year, the North fired machine guns at balloons launched by activists. Some bullet rounds landed in the South’s territory, but no one was hurt.
Seoul’s unification ministry said the government cannot curb the leaflet launch as it is about the freedom of speech, but added the move should not pose serious threats to residents living near the border. (Yonhap)
