By Yi Whan-woo
A group of activists sent anti-North Korea leaflets across the inter-Korean border, Sunday, despite Pyongyang’s threat to “retaliate” against such acts.
The Fighters for Free North Korea (FFNK) consisting of North Korean defectors living in the South said they floated balloons containing some 200,000 leaflets from the border village of Paju, Gyeonggi Province.
The leaflets carried messages that criticized the dictatorial Kim Jong-un regime for causing extreme poverty among the people while stressing the democratic South’s economic success, according to the FFNK.
The group said it will continue to fly the leaflets until its people under the North is free.
“We’ll send the messages of the truth ceaselessly regardless of threats and warnings from Pyongyang,” it said. “We’ll only stop if the North guarantees its people’s right to live as human beings.”
The FFNK took action after North Korea warned Saturday it would take retaliatory measures for flying anti-Pyongyang leaflets.
“Our military considers those leaflets as provocative action,” said Uriminzokkiri, Pyongyang’s state-controlled propaganda website. “We’ll not stop from simply making warnings; and burn all of those who are responsible to the ground.”
On Friday, North Korea’s National Defense Commission demanded in a letter to Cheong Wa Dae that Seoul blocks the cross-border spread of the leaflets. The North also alluded to retaliation in the faxed letters.
The Ministry of Unification, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said it asked the FFNK to suspend their anti-Pyongyang campaign. However, it added it has no legal right to prohibit the group from protesting against North Korea.
The FFNK often float balloons carrying a massive amount of leaflets near the inter-Korean border to denounce and publicize the dire political situation in the North.