North Korean authorities sharply criticized South Korean civilian groups for launching balloons carrying propaganda leaflets across the border. However, many North Koreans see the balloons as an effective way to patch roofs during the monsoon season.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source in South Hwanghae Province told Daily NK on Thursday that a family living in Taetan County recently used a scythe to cut down a balloon they had found caught in a tree near their house.
The balloon did not contain any hard currency or memory sticks but was full of propaganda leaflets criticizing the North Korean authorities.
After scanning the leaflets, the family promptly burned them but retained the vinyl balloon to use as waterproofing material during the rainy season.
“When people here [in North Korea] come across a balloon, they throw away most of the contents and then use the balloon to patch leaks in the roof or as vinyl covering on the farm. People secretly use the balloons because they’re robust enough to last for two or three years,” the source said.
Since there is a shortage of vinyl in North Korea, balloons are worth putting to other uses.
The North Korean authorities ban citizens from reading the propaganda leaflets and expect anyone who finds a balloon to immediately inform their organizational superiors without touching the balloon. But many North Koreans are unwilling to report the balloons at all because that means being questioned about what they saw.
“There are plenty of guard posts that try to monitor flying objects, but they can’t catch everything. Occasionally propaganda balloons are found by civilians in the woods near town. Their best bet is to burn the contents themselves to avoid being questioned after filing a report,” the source said.
The North Korean authorities have spread rumors that the propaganda leaflets and balloons sent by South Korean civilian groups are smeared with deadly viruses or germs in the hope of keeping people from touching them. But many North Koreans place little credit in such propaganda.
“Dollar bills are quickly pocketed, while memory sticks containing South Korean movies and dramas are usually incinerated along with the leaflets because of the risks associated with their possession. But any balloons that are found are considered a windfall given how useful they are.
According to the source, many of the propaganda balloons launched by South Korean civilian groups have recently fallen along coastal counties in South Hwanghae Province, including Ongjin, Taetan, Kangryong, Yongyon, Yonan and Paechon.
“Today I was informed that dirty leaflets and things of the ROK scum have been found again in the border area and some deep areas of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” said Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in a statement released by the Korean Central News Agency on July 14.
“According to the information, the [rubbish was] found in 17 places in Jangphung County of North Hwanghae Province and the area adjacent to it.”
“Despite the repeated warnings of the DPRK, the ROK scum are not stopping this crude and dirty [game],” Kim said, adding that South Koreans can look forward to “bitter embarrassment” and needs to “be ready [to pay] a very high price for their dirty [game].”
Daily NK works with a network of sources living in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. Their identities remain anonymous for security reasons.
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