North Korean defector group sends propaganda leaflets to Pyongyang

Pyongyang [North Korea]: A North Korean defectors' group said that it has sent about 10 large plastic balloons carrying propaganda leaflets against the North Korean regime across the border, which has further raised questions about Pyongyang resuming to send trash-filled balloons, reported Yonhap News Agency.

The balloons were filled with 200,000 flyers, criticising the regime, dollar bills and USB sticks loaded with K-pop and trot music, and were floated from Pocheon, north of Seoul, early Thursday, according to Park Sang-hak, head of the Fighters for a Free North Korea (FFNK).

A military source said that some of these balloons have flown into the North but said that no signs of retaliatory action were detected yet from the North Korean side, including any launch of ballistic missiles or release of balloons loaded with trash, as reported by Yonhap News Agency.

The military has been closely watching the North for signs of provocations, a Joint Chiefs of Staff official said. 

A unification ministry official said that the ministry is maintaining close communication with the relevant agencies and "doing its best to manage the situation." Since last week, Pyongyang has sent nearly 1,000 balloons carrying trash to the South in what it called a "tit-for-tat" action against such anti-Pyongyang leaflet campaigns, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Following the South Korean government's warning of "unendurable" measures, including resuming loudspeaker broadcasting, the North said that it would temporarily halt dropping balloons across the border.

However, North Korea also warned it will send "a hundred times the amount of toilet paper and filth" that the South sends, raising concerns the reclusive country could start the waste-filled campaign again. Notably, the FFNK has sent balloons carrying similar goods across the border, although such acts are banned in South Korea under a law that was legislated during the previous administration to help reduce tensions in the border regions, reported Yonhap News Agency.

(ANI)