South Korean Activists Send Anti-Kim Balloons to North Korea

An activist group in South Korea, Fighters For Free North Korea, flew balloons into North Korea on Thursday carrying leaflets that criticise North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

This comes after North Korea sent thousands of balloons carrying trash into South Korea.

A defector from North Korea, Park Sang-hak, who now leads the group “Fighters For Free North Korea,” said they launched ten balloons from Pocheon. These balloons carried 200,000 flyers, 5,000 USB sticks with K-pop videos and dramas, and 2,000 $1 notes.

For years, defectors and activists in South Korea have used balloons to send anti-North Korea leaflets and aid over the border. Recently, North Korea sent 3,500 balloons with 15 tons of trash, some containing excrement, into South Korea.

This led to tensions and prompted South Korea to suspend a 2018 military agreement and restart military activities near the border.

Photos from Park showed one leaflet with a picture of Kim Jong Un and his sister, with a message stating:

The enemy of the people Kim Jong Un, sent filth and trash to the people of the Republic of Korea, but we defectors send truth and love to our North Korean compatriots.

Other images showed Park and his team launching balloons at night.

In a statement, the group said, “Kim Jong Un has inflicted the worst insult and humiliation on 50 million of our people,” referring to the trash balloons. They pledged to continue sending leaflets until Kim apologises.

North Korea has long condemned defectors as “human scum.” After South Korea warned it might resume loudspeaker broadcasts along the border, North Korea said it would stop sending trash balloons but threatened to resume if anti-North leaflets were sent again.

On Wednesday, South Korea’s government said it was monitoring the leaflet issue. The South Korean government, however, noted that the leaflet practice is protected by freedom of speech laws.

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